Propagandhi don’t know what to do anymore. During the Winnipeg punk/metal agitators’ ascent in the late 80s, they drew as much notice with their affirmative action as they did their music. They pissed off the KKK in incendiary interviews, while championing progressive beliefs with almost every lyric they sang.
But, between 2017 album Victory Lap and its brand-new follow-up At Peace, there was a world-stopping pandemic. Then there were shocking conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Palestine, plus two of the most shambolic elections in US history. Singer/guitarist/co-founder Chris Hannah found himself in crisis: should he seek to heal, teach and overcome like Eckhart Tolle? Or should he try and destroy the prevailing order like the Unabomber?
That conflict manifests across the band’s latest material. “I am at peace these days,” Hannah howls during the title track’s thrash metal onslaught, “give or take a fit of blinding rage.”
He later proposes an ethical conundrum with fellow single Cat Guy – if a baby Adolf Hitler and your dog were both drowning, which one would you save? – only to decide that the best course of action is to disengage entirely. “As for me, I never learnt to swim,” he almost audibly shrugs. “Always been a cat guy anyways.”
Where At Peace’s words voice confusion amidst chaos, though, the music finds Propagandhi at their most cohesive point in decades, without sacrificing eclecticism. Hannah pulled influence from Judas Priest and Canadian punk gaggle SNFU this time around, and Guiding Lights proves it: the opener plugs the gap between its bold metal chords with scrambling lead guitar notes.
The following songs run the gamut from hardcore chug-a-thons (Prismatic Spray) to toe-tapping alt-rock (Stargazing), but they’re tethered by the most consistently mature melodies the band have ever unloaded. Hannah’s raspy and passionate without losing control of himself, and, while Propagandhi have never been a ‘big chorus’ bunch, the way they revisit motifs and phrases makes for a series of catchy, immediate anthems.
These long-serving dissidents may be perplexed by just about everything in 2025, but at the same time their identity is crystal clear. Part-punk, part-metal and entirely done with the way society’s going, Propagandhi are outsiders to the core. And life feels just that bit more logical when they tackle its disarray.
At Peace is out on Friday, May 2, via Epitaph.
