Rise Against – Endgame

When I first got into punk, Rise Against were the first truly influential band in my eyes. Their brand of melodic hardcore on Revolutions Per Minute inspired me and opened me up to a new, heavier world of music and successfully ensured that Rise Against would be forever one of my all time favourite bands. They continued to impress me with new releases and some of the best live shows I ever saw. For years I always listed Rise Against as one of the best live bands I’ve had the opportunity to see.

With that in mind, I gave Appeal To Reason a positive review. The album had some highlights that deserved the accolades, but in all honesty – as a whole, the album was bland. Ridding the wave of success, the album lacked a much needed punch; felt overly produced and offered more than a handful of forgettable tracks. Their live show dropped too, and after seeing them close to a dozen times live, they started to disappoint. It soon became hit or miss, sometimes great and other times not so much.

With one disappointing album and a few less than stellar live shows, I went into Endgame with a sense of ambivalence not wanting to tarnish my memory of my favourite punk band anymore.

From the get go, the outlook was grim. The first two songs released, Architects and Help is On The Way, weren’t bad songs by any means but they also weren’t anything new or groundbreaking. Rise Against were going through the motions and while the complete record doesn’t necessarily feel that way, it’s still an accurate description.

Compared to Appeal To Reason, Endgame is much more cohesive. It no longer feels over produced or slick as Tim McIlrath’s vocals come in with a sense of anger and coarseness that was sorely absent in it’s predecessor. While not as raw as Revolutions Per Minute, Endgame is a step in the right direction. There are moments of heavy drumming, guitar flourishes and intense breakdowns that see McIlrath trying to bring back his signature scream (Midnight Hands kind of has that, but his scream feels a little weak sadly).

Despite the improvements, Endgame still has its’ faults and they are numerous if not obvious. You may have once been able to call Rise Against a melodic hardcore punk band but not anymore. Now they’ve settled into a hard rock band which has its fair share of pitfalls. On top of the previously discussed gloss, the lyrics aren’t as scathing or pointed as they once were either.

The real problem, you realize though, is when you try and pick out a favourite track. It was nearly impossible and not because every song is just so good. Rather, nothing on Endgame truly stands out. Appeal To Reason was disappointing as a whole but has songs that I loved. Endgame is more fulfilling as a completed listen but is much more forgettable as nothing stands out in the mix. Ask me to describe This Is Letting Go and Disparity By Design and I’ll answer with a blank stare. The only reason Make It Stop (September’s Children) was named my favourite track was because I could recall the children’s choir that starts off the track. That made it memorable in the mix – the others are good; but are all too similar at the same time.