Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: Feature

Media Credit: muttis-booking.de Anti-Flag

Anti-Flag, one of the biggest punk bands around today, has released another CD for the masses to listen to and get angry with the president again. The four punks from Glenshaw, Pa., with new tracks about the media and the war, released "For Blood and Empire" on March 21.

The new CD mixes styles of older Anti-Flag with their newer material. Fans will be pleased to see that this is probably Anti-Flag's most musically inclined album, but it will not get the most recognition.
Their earlier work such as "A New Kind of Army" still overshadows, in my opinion, anything else the band has released.

Instead of playing everything loud and fast, the group focuses more on song writing and their heavy liberal message.

Founding members Justin Sane and Pat Thetic stay true to their punk roots, while additional members Chris Head and Chris #2 provide extra guitar riffs, bass tracks and vocals.

The album, although not traditional punk, can still be qualified as a heavy hitting album with lots of gang vocals and guitar solos.
The album, however, is a lot more different than the three-chord songs and fast drumbeats most know as punk music. The song "Hymn for the Dead" has a horn breakdown in the middle.
Although other songs throughout the album don't sound like something that would be on one of the band's earlier albums, it's still good music.

However, some of the songs seem to drag on. Maybe Anti-Flag needs to speed up a few of their tunes on this album. It seems like a couple of the songs are nothing but filler tracks. The chorus lyrics, "This is the end for you my friend," are as boring and unoriginal as its mirroring song title. The album, above other things, is nothing but inconsistent - some really great highs but some really bad lows as well.

Anti-Flag is currently on tour supporting their new album. Tickets for their show on April 6 at Bogart's in Cincinnati are on sale now at all Ticketmaster locations. Other bands on the bill include The Unseen, The Casualties, Smoke or Fire and The AKAs.

4/5 Stars

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