Three Days Grace, the internationally acclaimed and multi-platinum certified Canadian band, is releasing their new album, Outsider. Outsider is the sixth full-length album from the band, and is their latest since 2015s chart-topping album Human. To me, Outsider represents the journey to find your place, says bass player Brad Walst. The world feels crazy at times. We try to get away from that every once in a while. We do our own thing, and were comfortable doing it. We have always looked forwardand not backwards. Thats an ongoing theme.

Forging a new path forward is exactly what the musicians did in the fall of 2016. Instead of congregating in a downtown Toronto rehearsal space, the band which consists of Matt Walst [lead vocals], Barry Stock [lead guitar], Brad Walst [bass], and Neil Sanderson [drums, percussion, keyboards, programming], initially wrote in a converted garage behind Brads house located two hours from the city. This is all about taking a step back from lifes madness without destroying yourself, cutting everyone off, or going crazy, says Neil. You get a break and find the space to create. Eventually, the band retreated to Neils 90-acre farm to further hone ideas, and often sat around bonfires with acoustic guitars, tapping into the wild spirit surrounding them. As the songs took shape, the band headed to the Ontarios remote Jukasa Studios, and called upon longtime friends and collaborators including producers Gavin Brown and Howard Benso, engineer Mike Plotnikoff and Chris Lord-Alge on mixing duties, for an album that speaks directly to their army of fans from around the globe. That production team hasnt happened since One-X, adds Neil. We were lucky to get this group together. It made sense because we were in a similar headspace.

As much as it upholds tradition, Outsider represents progression for Three Days Grace. Marking his second offering as part of the band, Matt showed a new level of confidence and brought a ton of ideas, according to his brother Brad. Meanwhile, Neil expanded the signature electronic palette, integrating analog synths and standout programming with the help of Rhys Fulber [Fear Factory, Frontline Assembly]. He casually nodded to electronic influences as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Bring Me The Horizon, Lana Del Rey, and a surprising cult classic, the movie Lost Boys. First single The Mountain evinces that evolution. Those cinematic sonic flourishes augment arena-ready riffs before summiting towards a seismic refrain, Im still surviving, keep climbing, keep climbing the mountain.

Complacency kills creativity, and nobody seems to know that better than Comeback Kid. Outsider, the long-running hardcore outfits latest LP, showcases that in spades. Capturing the all-out intensity of the bands riotous live shows, its as urgent and unrelenting as anything theyve done in the past. And yet while many of their peers consider sonic evolution an enemy of their scene, Comeback Kid has built a career on progression and evolution, continually expanding their now-signature sound while never compromising its integrity. Were a hardcore band, but we dont feel like we belong to any particular sect of that, states frontman Andrew Neufeld, speaking on behalf of bandmates Jeremy Hiebert (guitar), Stu Ross (guitar), Ron Friesen (bass), and Loren Legare (drums). We dont want to be limited in any sense, and prefer to work on our own terms. Indeed, over the course of their career, theyve covered a lot of territory both musically and literally.

Comeback Kid first united in 2000 and dropped their debut LP, Turn It Around, in 2003. Its follow-up, 2005s Wake the Dead, further cemented the bands foundation of energetic, punk-propelled hardcore. With the departure of original vocalist Scott Wade, Neufeld moved from guitar to lead vocals ahead of 2007s Broadcasting… More recent releases like Symptoms + Cures and 2014s Die Knowing find the band incorporating a wider array of elements and influences into their combustible sonic concoction.

Outsider, Comeback Kids sixth full-length, represents the pinnacle of that progress to date, simultaneously pushing new boundaries while returning to the in-your-face immediacy of their first releases. Its always been about refining what we do and incorporating new things, Neufeld affirms. This time around, we were really focused on songs that we knew would connect from the stage. To that point, Surrender Control is essentially a clinic in inciting a riotous moshpit with an anthemic chorus while Absolute injects some thrash metal into more familiar CBK staples of call-and-response gang vocals and a punishing outro breakdown. Theyre as furious as anything in the bands back catalogue and effective foils to more ambitious offerings like Hell of a Scene, which combines blazing blast beats in the verses with an infections melodic hardcore chorus, and the more hard rock-centric Consumed the Vision. Neufelds voice is as powerful and piercing as ever while also pushing into new, often more melodic territory. Thats fitting considering the wide breadth of topics he tackles in his lyrics, from the plight of innovative thinkers to a world ripe with distractions from meaningful interactions to wrestling with personal demons, however they might materialize.

Of course, these 13 tracks will be volatile in the live environment. As longtime road warriors who are strangers to nowhere, Comeback Kid is sure to continue conquering new corners of the world. Weve always prided ourselves on trying to reach as many places as possible, Neufeld offers, and their still-swelling crowds everywhere from Southeast Asia to South America to mainland Europe are proof of that. Theyve performed at virtually every major heavy music festival and shared the stage with a whos who of their peers across virtually every genre that seeps into their ever-evolving sound.

After six LPs, an EP, two live albums, and countless shows over the course of 15-plus years, Comeback Kid still takes pride in pushing sonic boundaries and bringing their riotous live show across new borders. We still feel lucky to be a part of this, Neufeld says assuredly. Its bigger than us and we have no intentions of slowing down or standing still.