***For 35 years, STRUNG OUT has been banging out their signature brand of intense, frenetic, metal-influenced punk; elevating the band to elite status, and playing a significant role in redefining the genre. Strung Out's 10th studio album Dead Rebellion packs that same familiar punch, but with a new focus on melody, showing a band that is still evolving more than three decades into their distinguished career. Take, for instance, the way opener "Future Ghosts" begins in a frenzy of riffs and drumbeats before settling into a kind of hypnotic aggression. Or how the frenetic undercurrent of "White Owls" quietens down, its power condensed into a hushed whisper before once again soaring off in an impassioned burst of emotion. Similarly, "Life You Bleed" tiptoes quietly at first but then accelerates into a fully-fledged rock anthem. Elsewhere, "Cages" is a vicious indictment of the fractious, polarized and technology-driven nature of society, while "Empire Down" is a self- reflective ode about living up to the pressures and expectations of being in this band.
Produced, mixed, and recorded by Shawn McGee; Dead Rebellion might represent a new chapter for Strung Out, but it's guided by the same principles that have always driven them. While Strung Out has never been known as a political band, this record—like all Strung Out records—has captured the zeitgeist and the self- destructive political climate perfectly.
Overtly political or otherwise, Dead Rebellion is nevertheless a record informed by and reacting to the world we live in and all the experience...
