New releases last two weeks: Rock (All)

Review: Returning from a near-decade long hiatus with their first album in eight years, At Peace marks the eighth full-length from Manitoba punk heroes Propagandhi, serving as their follow up to 2017's Victory Lap. Channelling an anti-fascist ethos of skate punk meets thrashcore since 1986, their latest effort showcases a band doing their utmost to come to terms with the despondency they've been warning about since their inception. Recorded shortly before the re-election of Donald Trump and his assertion that the band's home country of Canada become the U.S.'s 51st State, the messaging here is as earnest and vital as ever, yet admittedly more worn out and exhausted following three decades of the same oppressive system, with vocalist Chris Hannah somewhat accepting defeat and altering what we can about our outlook - "Now it's the existential dread of eking out a life worth living in this completely failed society."