Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell

Fourteen albums and twenty-seven years in, it's hard to talk about Bad Religion in mere comparatives to the wider world. We are, after all, dealing with one of the most important punk bands of the past two decades. And with Brett Gurewitz still on board, the question isn't about whether or not New Maps Of Hell will be good; it's about how good. Carrying the beefed up, three-guitar sounds that have become a staple of post-millennium Bad Religion, it sounds a bit like - take note fan boys and girls - The Process Of Belief or The Empire Strikes First. The subject matter may be more superficial than before but it still trumps many an attempt to replicate their sound. It towers above the post-Gurewitz output of the late-90s and although it was never going to be another Suffer or Generator, it need feel no shame standing amongst the mighty company of their expansive back catalogue. [Neil Ferguson]