Times have been good for Anberlin. After releasing three records for Tooth and Nail Records, the Winter Haven, Florida, group signed to Universal Republic Records in August of 2007. The move to the major, which is also home to major acts like Jack Johnson and Elton John, gained Anberlin increased exposure and a monstrous recording budget. The resulting album, New Surrender, was produced by Neal Avron, who has also worked with Yellowcard and Fall Out Boy, and charted at number thirteen upon its release; “Feel Good Drag” is enjoying regular rotation on XM Radio.
But unlike many of the bands with which they're often associated, Anberlin reach across genres, sharpening their sound with diamond-like dynamism. Across their four records, they have proven their ability not only to rattle the rafters of the clubs but to bring everything down to the floor with quiet balladeering. The group began in the late 90s as the punk band SaGoh 24/7, and though they've since shifted into a more muscly, polished hard rock machine, they retain the vinegar bite of their earlier incarnation. This blending of styles – punk, hard rock, and pop sensibility – has proven successful for them in the past, but never before have the group refined their sound into something so polished and powerful. As Absolutepunk.net said of New Surrender, “opening barnburners 'The Resistance' and 'Breaking' hit with such a precision that radio may actually collapse upon itself.”
New Surrender also features some of vocalist Stephen Christian's hardest-hitting lyrics to date. Album closer “Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)” is an apocalyptic shock tale set, oddly enough, over soulful late-night electric piano. Over slow, throbbing guitars, Christian shouts that “the sun will turn dark very soon; the days are numbered when there's blood on the moon.” And while it's certainly apocalyptic, the song's mourning vocals and glacial pacing suggest that destruction, though majestic, is still destruction. This is a sad warning. But no matter how dark it might get, Anberlin are sure to deliver a loud light in the FAC.
- Marty Garner