Bad Religion Proclaim The Age Of Unreason
- Written by Marky Edison
Acclaimed Los Angeles punk rock band Bad Religion will release a new album entitled Age of Unreason on Epitaph Records on May 3. Since the group’s formative years they have steadfastly advocated for humanism, reason, and individualism. Now, when these values are in decline and nationalism and bigotry are on the rise, Bad Religion’s message has never been more essential. Age of Unreason delivers a powerful and inspired response - a political and deeply personal treatise on all they believe in.
“The band has always stood for enlightenment values,” co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. “Today, these values of truth, freedom, equality, tolerance, and science, are in real danger. This record is our response.”
The songs on Age of Unreason are both furious and meticulously crafted. There are references to contemporary events; racist rallies, Trump’s election, the erosion of the middle class, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, and there are homages to the literary and philosophical works that have long inspired the band.
The track ‘Chaos From Within’ uses the band’s iconic fast, powerful and melodic sound to examine the current border wall controversy with the lyrics, “Threat is urgent, existential / with patience wearing thin / but the danger's elemental / it’s chaos from within.” As co-songwriter and lead singer Greg Graffin says, “Throughout history, walls have been used to keep the barbarians out, but it seems to me that the truly barbaric aspect of a civilization is the chaos that comes from within.”
Age Of Unreason Track Listing:
Chaos From Within
My Sanity
Do The Paranoid Style
The Approach
Lose Your Head
End of History
Age of Unreason
Candidate
Faces of Grief
Old Regime
Big Black Dog
Downfall
Since Now
What Tomorrow Brings
The Profane Rights of Man (bonus)
Bad Religion play the Slamdunk festival in May
25 May – Slamdunk Festival, Leeds (UK)
26 May – Slamdunk Festival, Hatfield (UK)
More dates to be announced!