Supporting Caste

Albenrezension

On their 2009 release Supporting Caste, Canadian natives Propagandhi seem more interested in the challenging prog metal laid down in the Great White North — in the form of such genre giants as Rush and Voivod — than continuing the group's earlier punk-emo leanings. Granted, there are still enough elements of their emo past that they won't be confused with Kamelot anytime soon, as well as having Black Flag/Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson on board as producer. But there's no denying that the members of Propagandhi are quite adept at their instruments compared to other emo bands — especially on such tracks as the album opener, "Night Letters," and "Tertium Non Datur." Supporting Caste shows that Propagandhi are not afraid to expand their sound a bit, but the real question is, how far can they go without befuddling their early fans?