Lost Songs [Bonus Tracks]

...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's music has always had a revolutionary fervor, and it only heightened when the band cast off its major-label shackles. Inspired by the state of the world in the early 2010s, they sound more fiery, and timely, than ever on Lost Songs. One of the album's lead tracks, "Up to Infinity," draws its inspiration from the Syrian war; the band dedicated it to jailed Russian punks Pussy Riot. As on the two other albums they released on their Richter Scale imprint, Trail of Dead sound like a well-oiled machine, and Conrad Keely and Jason Reece make the most of the quartet lineup they've had since their excellent previous album, The Tao of the Dead. While Lost Songs is nearly as elaborate as that album, it's more urgent than majestic, with streamlined sonics and a furious attack. The band wastes no time getting heads banging on "Open Doors," yet there's an almost architectural precision to the songwriting and guitar onslaughts; while lyrics like "It migh