Ani DiFranco

“Knuckle Down” (Righteous Babe)

Compare to: Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos, Tegan and Sara

Powerful, poignant and real, Ani DiFranco delivers yet another masterpiece to her collection of albums.

Her voice ranges in colors from ice blue to deep crimson red as she paints a canvas of emotions dealing with oppression, jealousy, fear and self-discovery.

For a woman who has built her career around individuality, her first-time collaboration with co-producer Joe Henry may come as a shock — especially after her last experimental solo album, “Educated Guess” — but none of DiFranco’s distinct charm is lost in this album full of imagery and powerful lyrics.

Her songs flirt with the listener’s mind — their meaning honest and clear — but it’s not her style to blatantly tell the whole story, leaving some mystery behind every track.

“Manhole” is a perfect example of her folk sound over the last few years, but the more bluesy “Seeing Eye Dog” brings a sense of urgency.

DiFranco offers insight into her childhood surrounded by activists in “Paradigm” through the lyrics: “I was just a girl in a room full of women, licking stamps and laughing. I remember the feeling of community brewing, of democracy happening.”

Her imagery slashes against the greater canvas of each track like paint droplets, the whole story not revealing itself until its conclusion.

— Sophia Panos

… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

“Worlds Apart” (Interscope)

Compare to: Dismemberment Plan, Interpol, The Brian Joestown Massacre

By parts epic, spacey or utterly dense, … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead has returned.

“Worlds Apart” finds the band still rocking through stylish and sophisticated art rock songs — but with a twist. This time around, it put a stronger emphasis on song structure and melody rather than sheer volume.

Many of the songs embody a certain pop-like quality that will get crowds swaying back and forth in melodic bliss. The band hasn’t lost its ability to simply rock out, though.

Songs such as “The Rest Will Follow” pack sing-along choruses that showcase the potential energy the band is capable of unleashing at anytime. What makes the energetic bits of the album work well is contrast.

Next to the soft melodies Trail of Dead has added to the fold, the album’s loudest moments seem even more intense.

The album’s other plus is the diversity of material tackled by the band. Not to say that its attempts to play several styles of music, but rather its members know how to write songs within a genre that each have their own individuality.

Overall, “World’s Apart” is surprisingly refreshing. This is the kind of album that could be enjoyed on a car ride or on a sofa during a lazy afternoon. If this is the direction Trail of Dead continues to take, let’s hope it keeps killing for a long, long time.

— Dante Sacomani

In Battle

“Welcome to the Battlefield” (Metalblade)

Compare to: Suffocation, Lost Soul, Krisiun

With a name like In Battle, you would hope that this Swedish metal quartet would storm your speakers with a volley of heavy artillery. But unfortunately, on “Welcome to the Battlefield,” most of the weapons in In Battle’s arsenal are merely standard issue.

Although the members of In Battle are undoubtedly gifted musicians, the songwriting quality on “Welcome to the Battlefield” doesn’t quite live up to the precise musical salvo.

While tracks such as “Madness” and “Shunned By Life” initially impress with sheer speed and brutality, the album rapidly falls into a formulaic pattern of almost constant blast beats, with the band only occasionally varying its song structures enough to keep things interesting. In Battle’s full frontal assault grabs your attention at first, but the band’s lack of a diverse plan of attack eventually wears thin.

The lyrics and artwork are rife with the requisite imagery of war, but most metalheads have already heard this topic covered in more interesting ways by older, more well-known bands such as Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death. It seems unlikely that In Battle will ever become much more than a foot soldier in the ranks of the heavy metal battalion.

While listening to In Battle, you keep hoping for World War III, but “Welcome to the Battlefield” is only a minor skirmish.

— Joshua Haun

Anberlin

“Never Take Friendship

Personal” (Tooth and Nail)

Compare to: Foo Fighters, Bleach, Relient K

The members of Anberlin have matured as musicians, but lyrically they have composed what could be called a ‘teenage rock opera,’ which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Anberlin never slacks off musically. All but two tracks on “Never Take Friendship Personal” are headbangers.

Better yet, none of the songs sound the same. Guitarist Joseph Milligan plays intricate and detailed lead guitar parts ridiculously fast, but Anberlin’s music would allow him to do so without much overdubbing.

Lyrically, Anberlin is great, but the song topics need to be reconsidered. The theme is brilliantly ironic, and the lyrics are thought provoking, yet the songs are all strung together like a teenage rock opera, in which a male character gets unfairly treated and dumped out of the blue by his girlfriend.

He tries to win her back, but she keeps pushing his face in the dirt and he gets more furious as time passes.

Perhaps these events actually happened to one of the band members. Perhaps not. But either way, there is hope for recovery. The music is loud and hard enough to make even the most violent and angry of brutes calm down after headbanging and shaking his or her fist for a while.

Whether or not the teenage oppression theme is tolerable remains arguable, but the music makes this disc good enough to own.

— Dan Hopper