After dialing down the energy on 2018's acoustic Black Out the Sky, Californian punk quintet Strung Out kick back into gear with their ninth full-length, Songs of Armor and Devotion. Much like their previous, fully plugged-in effort, 2015's Transmission.Alpha.Delta, Songs pummels the point home with the band's signature combination of punk speed and metal fury. Intensely political, Songs employs that hybrid sound to deliver scorching commentary on the state of the U.S. at the close of the decade, with salvos as urgent, desperate, and furious as they could muster. As vocalist Jason Cruz screams about class strife, corrupt politicians, and impending civil war, the band's rollicking attack whips up an effective whirlwind. Like Rise Against and Alkaline Trio, Strung Out meld this heaviness with a keen sense of melody, which helps their message land easily on the ears via potent tracks such as "Rebels and Saints," "Monuments," and "Strange Notes." The metallic surge is best felt on the speedy "Daggers," "White Girls," "Demons," and "Disappearing City," a furious combo that rattles and jostles along drummer RJ Shankle's breakneck pounding, Chris Aiken's lurching bass, and Rob Ramos and Jake Kiley's twin guitar riff storm. While the bulk of the album relies on this kind of execution, the set's standouts are the moments where listeners can catch a breath while the band expands their scope and aims for the epic. The distressed "Under the Western Sky" is atmospheric and haunted, hopping between styles and tempos as the bandmembers push themselves to the limit. On closer "Bloody Knuckles," Cruz alludes to the titular armor and devotion, mourning those who fell "on our swords/just for taking a stand" in a seemingly loveless and confusing time. Combining their increasingly efficient punk-metal marriage with their matured points of view, Songs of Armor and Devotion is the urgent sound of a band using their platform to strike out at society's ills with a steady perspective and still much to say. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

1		Rebels and Saints
2		Daggers
3		Ulysses
4		Under the Western Sky
5		Monuments
6		White Girls
7		Demons
8		Hammer Down
9		Disappearing City
10		Politics of Sleep
11		Diamonds and Gold
12		Strange Notes
13		Bloody Knuckles