BAD RELIGION “New Maps of Hell”
Thank you Brooks Wackerman. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are vitality; you are life; you are a mortal doing the modern day work of Ponce De Leon. You are the insanely talented drummer/freakoid that continues to make BAD RELIGION sound ageless. Thank you, thank you.
When the final chapter (epitaph?) is written on BAD RELIGION, the group’s present stage — their fourth by my calculation — will be noted for its transformation and rebound from the latter Atlantic Records years. There will be talk about Brett Gurewitz rejoining the band; talk about Greg Graffin refocusing his lyrical energies on political and social contexts and less on his own personal demons; and then there will be a word or two about the band acquiring Mr. Wackerman. New Maps of Hell is Wackerman in his finest hour, playing at such an aggressive level that BAD RELIGION often seem re-jiggered back into their “classic trilogy” years. How this is all possible is somewhat of a mystery – after all, Wackerman has to fight his way over three smoldering guitarists, a superb bassist, and a blanket of explosive ooooozin’ ahhhhhhs. And no one does the ooooozin’ ahhhhhhs better than BAD RELIGION. Yet Wackerman is without a doubt the backbone of New Maps of Hell. From the symphonic vulgar display of percussive power on “Heroes & Martyrs,” to the forbidden beat lashing that is “New Dark Ages,” and the complicated, quasi-prog stylings of “Submission Complete,” Wackerman’s stick and foot work is a real treat.
As for the rest of the hacks (ha), New Maps of Hell is more or less a pattern of two booms for each blah. Pleasurably, there’s much more boom to the album’s sixteen song tracklisting, but not unlike albums past, BAD RELIGION’s merely average songs take a precipitous drop from their strongest material. “Heroes & Martyrs,” “New Dark Ages,” “Dearly Beloved,” and “Scrutiny,” have each punched their ticket to the elite BAD RELIGION Song Hall of Fame. Instantly memorable, powerful and tagged with fist pumping lyrics, this is the BAD RELIGION that defies time lines. “Dearly Beloved” reminds me a lot of the power behind the Suffer staple, “Do You What You Want.” Although disparate to the latter in songwriting, both songs are constructed around stark yet powerful words that are easily intriguing to fresh-eared listeners. As the latter shouts out Do What You Want!, “Dearly Beloved,” props up the frustrating and adaptable revelation, I Can’t Relate To You!. The impact is driven home through mutli-part harmonies and a gasping-for-air finish. Not bad, not bad at all.
To the other end, New Maps churns out a number of middling songs that are stronger in subject matter than musical grip. “52 Seconds” and “Prodigal Son” are simply stagnant while “Honest Goodbye,” though distinctive (in a Generator’s “The Answer” kind of way), languishes in an ending that works itself into a whimper. “Before You Die” takes some time to sink in, but its bouncy setup and sing-along friendly lyrics make it a likely choice for live-set-potency. “Grains of Wrath,” is a linear propeller of punk rock that leaves the words “From sea to shining sea” ringing in your ears, but not much else, while “Murder” sizzles for 70 seconds and leaves as fast as it whooshes in.
If some of this review is less than convincing, remember the axiom that even moderately-good BAD RELIGION puts mostly everything else to shame. New Maps of Hell is genuine and fierce; an album that is respectful of their own history and legacy, and not a shadow dweller.
Epitaph
