I’m now resurrecting a feature of the blog which has lain dormant for 8 months. The reason I’m resurrecting it is because my friend Björn Gestsson has no ability to find new music on his own so he relies on other people’s recommendation for new music and I fear he may be lacking in new music as of late (this is of course utter bull, but it is in some way grounded in reality).

The first album this time around is Appeal To Reason from Rise Against. This is Rise Against’s fifth studio album and really shows how they have grown as a band, their songs are amazing and I have few word that justify how much this album appeals to me (pun intended). When I listen to the album it’s pretty much every song that shows me something interesting. This albums is at a fast pace and great to listen to while working out as well as a casual listen. What really surprised me was that Rise Against’s texts have matured amazingly. Each song contains an interesting and compelling story which you find yourself losing yourself in while listening to the songs. As an example the song Hero Of War tells the tale of a patriotic young man who goes to war to fight for his country and falls into a situation where he and his fellow soldiers commit horrible acts of violence. The song then continues to tell that once the soldier returns home he is greeted as a hero but he feels shameful and ashamed for what he has done during the war. This song alone has more content then the plot of an average Hollywood movie. Anyway get this album right now it’s amazing, I love it.

The second album on my list this month is The Black Swan from Story of The Year (no it’s not just because I finished reading Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan recently). The album comes in two versions, one with 13 tracks and then the version with 5 bonus tracks, I recommend the latter even if it’s only for the song Wake Up. The Black Swan continues Story Of The Year’s transition to more aggressive and harder rock but seems to have brought back that sparkle from their first albums Page Avenue which made me like them so much. The songs are aggressive, fast paced and sufficiently varied to warrant listening to the album as a whole a couple of times. Story Of The Year may not appeal to everyone but if you like interesting alternative hard rock which is borderline metal with a band that is true to their fans wants and needs then give The Black Swan a try.

 

Hero Of War – Rise Against

Wake Up – Story Of The Year

Related posts from the blog:

• Straight to your iPod – May 2009
• Straight to your iPod – June 2009
• Straight to your iPod – March 2009
• Straight to your iPod – April 2009
• Articles of the week (15/2009 & 16/2009)