Yes. I know my enemy.

Make no mistake about it - these are troubled times. Unjust wars are being fought against intangible concepts that are made even more powerful when confronted through formal violence. Multi-national corporations, through money-slinging and blatant deception, infect the machinations of democratic federal governments, using them to dissolve the moral boundaries formally implemented by these as-of-now ineffective federal institutions, made weak by the very corporations they pander too. The flames of extremism, of both the Christian far-right and Islamic fascism, fan across all notions of reason, consuming any appeal to logic that might have otherwise been found amongst the People of America, or the Middle-East. More and more, people are willing to sacrifice basic rights, and support racist immigration policies for the illusion of safety and the mindless perpetuation of our “All Father”, money - our God of Gods.

Yeah, I am by no stretch of the imagination proud of my country as of late. In these past years, the political situation went from sexually scandalous and morally questionable, to down-right terrifying and hostile. And while this is a matter of speculation - I have a terrible feeling that it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.

And that brings us to Rage Against the Machine. While the band broke up in 2000, after the mildly disappointing Battle of Los Angelos was released, their music, their message, and their lyrics are still as relevant as ever, if not more so, today. While there are a slew of other bands sloppily wielding similar slogans, “blessing” us with mindless political drivel (sorry Rise Against, Green Day, NOFX and crew), none can come close to capturing the sense of urgency, the zeal, the necessity of the liberal core better than good old Rage (to whom really cares, please note the lack of the neo- prefix - it really makes all the difference in the world).

“Landlords and power wh*res, on my people they took turns! Dispute the suits, I ignite, and then watch ‘em burn!”

Roaring and seething with undeniable energy and sincerity, Zack de la Rocha’s vocals are never anything less than amazing. No, his voice is not melodious or tranquil in the least bit. It is an impassioned shriek heard throughout the land, rallying the attention of all who can hear, setting fire in the hearts of those who choose not to ignore the injustices of a certain caste of free-market elites. The explosive opener, an aptly titled Bombtrack, uses flaming threats to shed light on what he (along with others) believes to be the enormous toll free-market capitalism has dealt to his Central American brothers. "But I learned to burn that bridge and delete those who compete, at a level that’s obsolete", he shouts, perhaps a reference to the bridges destroyed by Zapatista sympathizers in the early 90’s upon the implementation of NAFTA.

Bassist Timmy C. and drummer Brad Wilk shine on tracks like Take the Power Back and Bullet in the Head, amplifying Rage’s “groove” factor with funky bass lines and hip-hop drum beats. This genre influence makes Zack’s vocal deliverance all the more potent as he flies through verse after verse of radical poetics:

“They load the clip in omnicolor, they packed a 9, and fired it at prime time. Sleeping Gas - every home was like Alcatraz, and mother f*ckers lost their minds!

Seemingly a reference to the hypnotic pull of television, these lyrics portray TV as a method of deceptive politics via media, and as a method of distributing pacifism by showcasing images of material prosperity, forcing some to become preoccupied with images of synthetic reality. The momentum builds and builds until climaxing in a Molotov cocktail of heavy metal, as de la Rocha screams, “Ya got a bullet in your f*cking head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. This chugging, metal-tinged cocktail is just one of many that are repeatedly heaved throughout the album.

Wake Up is perhaps the most powerful display of this - a proverbial direct hit with one cocktail tossed from a displaced follower, one of the many victims of globalization. “Networks at work, keeping people calm, ya know they murder X, and tried to blame it on Islam!”, Zack shouts, followed shortly afterward by a psychotic solo from Tom Morello. The flames burn higher then ever as Zack destroys his metal peers with the most effective screaming fit I’ve ever heard, supported fully by a band that thrashes their instruments for all their worth, while maintaining a discernable, hard-rock rhythm. “WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!”, he repeats. Never has repetition sounded so good.

Of course, Tom Morello must be mentioned. He establishes himself quickly as the innovative guitarist he is, incorporating a plethora of experimental sounds in several tracks. Know Your Enemy sees him unleashing a well-ranged solo, sounding of a unique electric-whirl distortion unheard of in other kinds of music. In Fistful of Steal, he somehow manages to make his guitar literally “laugh” in an eerie pitch while the rest of the band provides low-key rhythms.

The greatest thing about Rage’s self-titled album is it’s momentum - it just never lets up. Later tracks have all the kinetic force first experienced on Bombtrack, and then some. Rage’s funk and hip-hop influences continue to resurface later, and all of it is incorporated into a truly unique and experimental blend. Township Rebellion showcases all of this - I don’t think Morello, at any point, uses his guitar to make a single conventional sound, and yet it still feels like nothing is missing. Timmy Cummerford’s bass hums as Brad Wilk uses the cow-bell liberally to create an entire rhythm section of unique sounds. And then comes Zack’s ever confrontational lyrics: “You shackled our minds when their bent on the Cross. When ignorance reigns, life is lost. . .”

It is both fortunate and unfortunate that Rage Against the Machine‘s music is still relevant today. Many of the caustic societal problems blasted by rapper/singer de la Rocha not only still remain, but continue to grow like a cancerous tumor, nurtured both by the rise of corporate authority over government, and by a new generation of political apathy. An apathy spawned from frustration and disillusionment with the two-party system, dominated as it is by neo-liberals and neo-conservatives, that refuses to act in the interest of anyone but the “free enterprise” corporations that have (and continue) to perpetrate crimes as heinous as those found in the communist countries we love to hate. In this way, however, Rage’s music has gained strength. Inspired by a wide variety of other radical musicians that came before them - MC5, Public Enemy, Minor Threat, Bad Brains - Rage Against the Machine, at times eloquently and at times abrasively, fused funk, hip-hop, punk and metal into a volatile, high-octane concoction that courses with passion, innovation, and a furious, sincere desire to topple imperialism in all of it’s forms.

“So called fact are frauds. They want us to allege and pledge and bow-down to their God!? Lost the culture - the culture lost. . . spun our minds and through time. . .Ignorance has taken over! Yo, we’ve gotta take the power back!