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"The Process Of Belief" Bad Religion |
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If the end result's any indication, here's hoping they take an extended break more often! "The Process Of Belief" is to an album what born-again Christianity is to a faith, and the invigorated results of their new collaboration are astounding! Recalling the ferocity of their earliest work with the unique harmonizing qualities that've helped define a thriving generation in the So. Cal Punk scene, the reunited core team of Gurewitz, Graffin and Bentley have upped the anti again in sound, volume and density. Freed from the constraints of major label bureaucracy and mediocrity, their return to where it began on the Epitaph label finds a roots-burning urgency to their already expansive craft that's long since diagramed the sound schematics for countless others to follow. "The Process Of Belief" rivals and surpasses anything they've accomplished to date, emotionally, technically, and tactfully. Each of the fourteen tracks follow their own paths, embodying thoughts of discontentment and discouragement, questioning authority and humanity along the way and react with resolve, filtered with virtue, and far surpass previously trained ideas of Punk music constraint. "Supersonic" opens at a blistering pace, not to be outdone by the here and now; "Can't Stop It" is a teeming quick ticking anthem about frustration uncontrolled, which at barely a moment's notice gives way to the acoustically catchy "Broken," in a directional shift few could master. And yet this is nothing new for the band, themselves a long established fixture for Punk Rock accountability with the forthright and forefront songwriting skills. The overall vibe is one of determination, rather than digression, yet comparatively, classic elements live and breathe in spite of their own legacy even as they can't help but go forward. Here's a scene that's grown in leaps and loaded with single-minded pretenders, so the forerunners of a new revolution remain as in demand now as then. Expect their usual brisk pace and spirited "ooh's and aah's" and bask in the breakneck of "Destined For Nothing," and "Bored And Extremely Dangerous," raise a fist and rejoice in the rally cry of "Kyoto Now!" and "The Defense," and search for truth on "Sorrow," and "Epiphany." What are words worth? About a million bucks here and no one combines words, music and purpose with as much power, precision and humility as Bad Religion. Become a believer all over again. Released by Epitaph Records: http://www.epitaph.com/ Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] P.O. Box 20252
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