AMG Review of Supporting Caste

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

On their 2009 release Supporting Caste, Canadian natives Propagandhi seem more interested in the challenging prog metal laid down in the Great White North -- in the form of such genre giants as Rush and Voivod -- than continuing the group's earlier punk-emo leanings. Granted, there are still enough elements of their emo past that they won't be confused with Kamelot anytime soon, as well as having Black Flag/Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson on board as producer. But there's no denying that the members of Propagandhi are quite adept at their instruments compared to other emo bands -- especially on such tracks as the album opener, "Night Letters," and "Tertium Non Datur." Supporting Caste shows that Propagandhi are not afraid to expand their sound a bit, but the real question is, how far can they go without befuddling their early fans?