For a band with such famously liberal politics, Bad Religion is certainly adverse to change. New Maps of Hell, the band’s latest album, sure sounds similar to the band’s previous work — blazingly fast, occasional guitar solos, lots of “oooos” and “ahhhhs” and what may be the most intellectual lyrics in music today. But after 26 years of existence and 16 albums, one wouldn’t expect evolution from the godfathers of punk, even if lead singer Greg Graffin does have a doctorate in evolutionary paleontology from Cornell.

And although the band’s general sound hasn’t changed, the themes it deals with have. The songs on the band’s last album, The Empire Strikes First, dealt exclusively with the Bush’s administration’s war on terror (“Let Them Eat War,” “The Empire Strikes First”) or religion (“Atheist Peace,” “God’s Love”). On New Maps of Hell, the songs focus on more varied topics, although a number touch on a favorite topic of Bad Religion’s – the squelching of alternative viewpoints.

The album begins with “52 Seconds” (it actually clocks in at 58 seconds), which is fol-lowed by “Heroes & Martyrs” and “Germs of Perfection,” two more songs that check in at under two minutes long each. The blazing start to the album is classic Bad Religion, particularly Graffin’s heavily distorted vocals on “52 Seconds.” The three fast songs to start the album recall 2002’s The Process of Belief, which opened in a similar fashion.

New Maps of Hell’s first great song is “New Dark Ages,” which is seemingly directed at the evangelical Christian belief in the rapture. Again hitting on religion,”Dearly Beloved” is a parable, telling the story of a preacher who loses religion and can no longer lead his pious followers, pleading “I can’t relate to you/I can’t relate to you.”

“Grains of Wrath” is a startling critique of greed, complete with a brilliant guitar solo by Brett Gurewitz as Graffin declares, “I don’t wanna be in the land known as destitute and free/with the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea.”

The band goes back to the short stuff with “Murder,” a largely unremarkable song, which is followed by the exceptionally melodic “Scrutiny.” The most atypical song on the album is “Prodigal Son,” which features a meandering chorus that might surprise the most die-hard of fans.

Two more slices of the standard Bad Religion fare follow in the form of “The Lost Pilgrim” and “Submission Complete” before the epic “The Fields of Mars” ends the album with a bang. The only hopeful track on an otherwise pessimistic album, the lyrics lament that “mother nation/and religion/sanction killing” but promise one day “maybe we can make it right/someday I’ll see you/high above the fields of Mars.”

New Maps of Hell’s biggest problem comes in the lack of a defining song – none of the 16 songs come close to band classsics such as “I Want to Conquer the World,” “Punk Rock Song” and “American Jesus.” However, the album is still better than the late-90s albums it released when Brett Gurewitz had left the band, but is certainly weaker than the band’s offerings from the ’80s and early ’90s.

In the end New Maps of Hell is an album for Bad Religion’s fans, striking a similar chord to its previous work. But, for someone looking to get into the band, Suffer or No Control are much better examples of Bad Religion at its best.

Contact reporter Kevin Robillard at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.