For Blood and Empire
Anti-Flag
Sony/BMG, $27.99
For Blood and Empire is Anti-Flag's seventh album. Although not to everyone's taste, the band injects a healthy dose of politics into the US punk scene. On their latest release, they deal with a plethora of issues, including war, depleted uranium and how the World Trade Organisation kills farmers.
"The Press Corpse" is a harsh condemnation of the mainstream media, which supports the US empire's drive for war. The chorus "they don't wanna talk about it, they wanna tiptoe walk around it" describes how "embedded" reporters refuse to report the truth. A more poignant track "One Trillion Dollars" is about the amount of money spent on weapons across the world in 2004.
The destructive affect of advertising on women is explored in "This is the End (For You My Friend)".
The final track, "Depleted Uranium is a War Crime", combines music with the grisly details of a study of the effects of depleted uranium in Iraq.
I especially like the activist focus of the album. It comes with a booklet of essays featuring the issues behind the music and encouraging people to get involved in various
campaigns. This band wants people to get active, rather than just listen to the record.