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For the most part, this album is Rise Against by the numbers. It's a collection of raw and aggressive punk tunes with strong hooks and poignant, politically charged lyrics. One thing I've always appreciated about the group is that they've never strayed to far from their roots; they're a punk band first and foremost (sure they're not tearing up stages in the hardcore scene anymore, but whatever). The production of the record fully supports the attitude of the songs, with rather dirty, distorted guitar and bass tones and extremely punchy drums. Tim MclIrath's harsh vocal delivery is as strong as ever as well. So, solid performances, solid production, solid album. Although I still feel like something's missing...

Rise Against doesn't really do anything all that new or ground breaking on Wolves. That's not to say there aren't some great additions to their catalog on here, the title track opens the record strongly, "Welcome to the Breakdown" and "House on Fire" are both uptempo romps that are just begging to be moshed to, and the ever so catchy "Mourning in Amerika" gives off equal amounts raw emotion and punk rock party (think a more uptempo "Audience of One." The album's weak moments are few and far between, mainly the mid album track "Bullshit," which basically says what we're all thinking about the state of the nation though a jumblly, call and response punk tune.

For all the album's high points, I'm still left wanting more from it. Rise Agaisnt has perfected their formula for writing solid, hard hitting punk rock songs, so why not experiment with it a bit? There are opportunities presented on this record to create some dynamic, interesting moments, but for the most part the band opts to keep things hard and punky (which I can see why, a punk album during the Trump administration? People should expect no holds barred). This is a bit of the reason why I wasn't such a huge fan of Rise Against's last effort, The Black Market. It just seems like different years, same sounding albums. Rinse and repeat. Although Wolves is marginally better than their last album, I still find myself enjoying the band's back catalogue more, particularly Appeal to Reason and Siren Song of the Counter Culture (these albums I feel just have a bit more uniqueness and character to them).

All in all, Wolves is a great addition to Rise Against's discography. Same band punk band with the same, awesome, punk tendencies. Just wish there was a bit more variety in the track list, and a few more risks taken.