Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
Spinefarm Records
Release Date: 06/01/2023
Running Time: 33:00
Review by Rory Bentley
8/10
In my continuing quest to review as little Metal as possible whilst writing for a Metal website, my first review of the new year is the new cut from Pittsburg Punk Royalty Anti-Flag and their 13th studio album “Lies They Tell Our Children”. The millennial noughties teen in me rejoiced when I saw this pop up in the release schedule, as did the part of me that’s already miserable enough in January without being forced to listen to music that sounds like a lorry driving past your house while you’re trying to get to sleep. But don’t get me wrong, for all its tunefulness this album is as pissed-off as anything you’ll hear for the rest of the year.
Centring on a bile-filled attack on late-stage capitalism and the astonishingly even wider gap in inequality in a post-Covid world, the band have created one of the freshest and most vital additions to their incredibly consistent catalogue, helped in no small part by a plethora of impressive guest spots. The album’s greatest strength is finding a laser focus while touching on a wide variety of Punk subgenres throughout its breakneck 33-minute runtime.
We get rousing Folk-Punk singalongs on opener ‘Sold Everything’ and ‘Victory or Death (Gave ‘Em Hell)’, swaggering Punk ‘n’ Roll on ‘Imperialism’ and scabrous Post-Hardcore on the towering ‘Hazardous’, all forged together by the band’s core sound of slick, melodic, anthemic modern Punk. The band have been churning out solid releases for a long old time now, but it’s this deadly combo of breadth and brevity that sees this latest release ranking at the top end of their discography.
Killswitch Engage main man Jesse Leach pops up on the seething ‘Modern Meta Medicine’, which contains verses dripping with palpable disgust at the hegemonic power structures that see so many of us actively participate in our own exploitation that explode into one of the albums most fist-pumping choruses. Leach’s contribution is particularly commendable for the way he blends seamlessly with the bands style rather than imposing his visceral bark on proceedings as one might expect.
In one of the more prominent guest appearances Rise Against singer Tim McIlraith rocks up on the appropriately Rise Against-sounding ‘The Fight Of Our Lives’ and delivers his soaring impassioned croon over a composition that is equal parts melancholic, wistful and furious. Despite being a big fan of the more commercially palatable direction of modern-day Rise Against, it’s lovely to hear Tim sounding so feral and unpolished again.
Despite excellent contributions from other members of Anti-Flag’s extended Punk family such as the dynamic strut of Pinkshift’s Ashrita Kumar on ‘Imperialism’ and the weathered grit of Die Toten Hosen’s Campino on the pint-swaying ‘Victory or Death’, the album never runs the risk of being overrun by its impressive collection of co-conspirators. In fact, perhaps the two strongest cuts are solely comprised of the core line-up in the form of ‘The Hazardous’ and ‘Only In My Head’. The former is arguably the most bleak thing here from a sonic perspective, with angular chords and full throated screams driving the song to its soul-destroying climactic mantra of ‘Same war, same chains, sane house always wins’. The latter closes the album out in a furious death-rattle with one last lung-busting singalong, bellowing ‘the house created by their greed is not the goddamn home that we need!’
“The Lies They Tell…” is an album with a well-worn but no less relevant theme that our society is being sucked dry by billionaire parasites and a system where the deck is stacked against the majority. It is something that needs to be said in a strong, articulate and emotionally compelling voice and as much as we all love Metal here, sometimes Punk Rock is the best vehicle to get the point across. Start your new year with a defiant middle finger to your oppressors and a banging soundtrack provided by Anti-Flag.
‘The Fight Of Our Lives’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Sold Everything
02. Modern Meta Medicine
03. Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die.
04. The Fight Of Our Lives
05. Imperialism
06. Victory Or Death (We Gave ‘Em Hell)
07. The Hazardous
08. Shallow Graves
09. Work & Struggle
10. Nvrever
11. Only In My Head
LINE-UP:
Justin Sane – Vocals / Guitar
Chris No. 2 – Vocals / Bass
Chris Head – Guitar
Pat Thetic – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
