The Empire Strikes First
Bad Religion sound particularly focused on The Empire Strikes First. The familiar ingredients are all present: quick guitars, clear vocal harmonies and Greg Graffin delivering difficult words with surprising melodic ease. The songs gain extra force from having specific political and social targets, giving the band's established approach a clear purpose.
The brooding Overture makes the entrance of Sinister Rouge especially effective. The shift is dramatic without becoming elaborate, and the fast attack gives the record a firm direction. Social Suicide keeps that opening pressure high, with the band fitting strong hooks into a short, precise performance.
Los Angeles Is Burning is the central achievement. Its melody is immediately appealing, but the images of environmental damage prevent the brightness from becoming reassuring. The guitar line has enough character to carry the song between its vocal hooks. The arrangement makes anger sound alert and active rather than merely grim.
Let Them Eat War takes a greater risk by bringing Sage Francis into the middle of the song. The guest section works because the surrounding rhythm and melody remain strong enough to hold it. The change in delivery sharpens the argument without making the track feel divided between two unrelated performances. All There Is finds another kind of lift in the harmonies, allowing the emotion to grow inside a recognisably direct song.
Some of the album's claims are broad, and the speed of the performance can make a complicated problem feel too quickly settled. The sustained attack also gives several songs a similar emotional temperature. To Another Abyss is valuable for allowing more vulnerability to enter the voice, while Boot Stamping on a Human Face Forever brings a darker, more measured perspective.
The record succeeds because its conviction is supported by strong writing. Bad Religion make their point through melody, structure and performance as well as argument. The Empire Strikes First has the force of a band who know their tools thoroughly and have found material that makes those tools worth using again.
