Artist: Project 86 Album: Songs to Burn Your Bridges By Label: Solid State Records Rating: 7 out of 10

After making the leap to a major label for the under-appreciated Truthless Heroes, Project 86 have come back home to indie Tooth & Nail for their latest opus, Songs To Burn Your Bridges By. For some reason, the heavy melodic rock of Heroes (issued by Atlantic Records in 2002) failed to break Project 86 with mainstream audiences, despite the fact it was one of the strongest records released by any band that year. So in reaction, it seems, the group has taken a half-step backwards to the more aggressive material that made sophomore release Drawing Black Lines such a hit with fans. In fact, opener “The Spy Hunter” picks up right where that album’s lead single, “One-Armed Man” left off. With straight-ahead, hard-rocking verses and a pummeling chorus comprised of stop-start riffs and angrily-spit vocals, it’s an immediate Project 86 classic. With its throttling, punky tempo, shouted backing vocals and fast-fretting bass work, “The Great Golden Gate Disaster” could also be an outtake from Drawing Black Lines, as could the raging “Breakneck Speed.” But as good as these songs are taken individually, they seem a little formulaic when you consider that Project 86’s back catalog contains several others in the same vein. Thankfully, the modern rock feel of Truthless Heroes’ less-aggressive tracks is retained on several Bridges songs. The melodic backing vocals of guitarist Randy Torres (who’s been known to sing the occasional lead part as well) fill out the choruses of “Oblivion” and “Break Down in 3/4,” lending both an epic feel. The same is true of first single “A Shadow on Me,” which stretches the band’s sound even further, adding stuttering drum-machine beats and acoustic strumming into the mix. With its stripped down verses all echoey guitar picking and whispery, double-tracked vocals and big, melodic chorus, it’s yet another Project song that should be a hit, but probably won’t be. Throughout Bridges, Project 86 is really in fine musical form. Torres delivers a solid mix of bludgeoning riffs and eerie atmospheric parts and frontman Andrew Schwab spits his aggressive, rappy vocals with the appropriate venom, while the rhythm section ably drives it all home. But on this project, its Schwab’s lyrics that truly set the group apart from it’s hard rock compatriots. Though many of his words are unintelligible amid the blustery firestorm of Project’s music, upon closer examination, it’s easy to see why the singer published a book of his poetry a couple years back. One example of his evocative, apocalyptic style is the chorus of the aforementioned “Spy Hunter,” on which Schwab roars: “We caught you plotting murder/ And now the tide is turning./ We’ll light our souls and heat our bones/ Upon your empire burning./ I’ve seen the towers of gods and the power of men in disguises of the worst kind./ I am the voice of one among the silent who’s tired of burning among the flames.” “A Text Message to the So-Called Emperor,” a brief spoken-word interlude that comes toward the end of Bridges, is equally chilling. “The have-nots calling in the listless wind/ waiting for retribution/ waiting for some voice to call them from the bottom where you left them,” Schwab intones bleakly amid a swirl of ambient noise. “So onward friends from our battered homes/ Forward to the onrush of cast stones/ crushed bones and the gallows.” Bridges is a single-minded album, relentlessly dark in its vision of a society on the brink of disaster or revolution. A little bit of light - maybe a ballad, or at least some vaguely-positive words - would have provided some nice variety. But there’s definitely a certain power to this singular approach. And overall, Songs to Burn Your Bridges By is yet another record that proves Project 86 should be huge. They’ve consistently delivered intelligent lyrics, aggressive music, and catchy hooks. What more could heavy music fans ask for? - Todd Thatcher