Artist: Stray From The Path
Single: “Badge & A Bullet”
Album: Anonymous

Stray From The Path have returned with a sound that gives further ammunition to the legion of fanboys who have spent the last few years comparing the band to rock legends Rage Against The Machine.

Hitting the net yesterday after a successful viral campaign that included support from a number of notable musicians, “Badge & A Bullet” is the lead single off Stray From The Path’s forthcoming album due out in September. The song opens with a riff you’ll swear was written at the Tom Morello School For Introductions, and quickly explodes into a quasi-hardcore jam that straddles the hard rock/nu-metal line with fervent intensity. The similarities to Rage Against The Machine’s early work is the most obvious, but there are elements of Soundgarden and the Beastie Boys, as well as a dash of Snapcase buried amongst the headbangs. Add to this Stray From The Path’s already established mastery of hardcore with alt-leaning nuances, and you have a sound that feels modern, but is undeniably rooted in ideas from decades past. That’s not a complaint, in fact quite the opposite, but to say it’s necessarily original would be a bit of a stretch.

What truly makes “Badge & A Bullet” memorable, however, is not as much the music as the way it seamlessly blends with the band’s angst-laden lyricism to fuel your deepest desires to start a riot. With an opening line like, “Pull the pin out the fucking grenade,” it’s hard to imagine the band hoping to incite anything less than the most ridiculous mosh pit imaginable. That said, those who listen closely will find the song’s message on police brutality and corruption is as heavy as anything the band can create with their instruments. It may sound like noise to some, but it’s noise with a message that not only deserves to be heard, but needs to.

With just under two months to go before Anonymous arrives in stores, Stray From The Path have kicked off their promotional run with flying colors. “Badge & A Bullet” is without a doubt one of the strongest song’s in the band’s catalog, and it sets up Anonymous to be a contender for album of the year. If the messages found elsewhere on the band’s new album are as timely and well-delivered as what we’ve heard here, I have no doubt Stray From The Path will end 2013 in a better position than ever before.

Review written by: James Shotwell (Follow him on Twitter)

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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