At The Drive-In Announce First Album In 17 Years; 'in • ter a • li • a'

At The Drive-In's last record, 'Relationship Of Command', is an all-time personal favourite record of yours truly. There are very few other albums I rate as highly as that record.

Front to back, I love that album to a psychotic degree. From the lively, unmatched urgency in the opening song, 'Arcarsenal', right up until the foreboding nature of closer 'Non-Zero Possibility', that album is just pure gold for me and is a staple of the post-hardcore world.

Yet earlier this week, when At The Drive-In announced that their first album in 17 years with 'in • ter a • li • a' would land in May, I didn't go into full fan meltdown like many others did. For the thought of a new record from this band sadly doesn't make me enthusiastic as in my mind, I already have the perfect record from them - 'Relationship Of Command'.

Hell, even 'In/Casino/Out' is a great listen this many years on and may even best this upcoming sibling.

Sure, 'in • ter a • li • a' (Latin, for "among other things") could be a good record - a great record, even - but I still remaining cautiously optimistic about it. Besides, as per the two public tastes that are now available from the album, it seems like At The Drive-In have never left us, as they have pick op where they left us in 2000.

[caption id="attachment_1090621" align="alignnone" width="760"] 'in • ter a • li • a' is out May 5th.[/caption]

Well, bar one member.

See, 'in • ter a • li • a' will be the first album to not feature eccentric guitarist Jim Ward, who was a big part of what helped to make the band great in the first place. However, judging by their latest song, 'Incurably Innocent', I doubt you would have even noticed his absence without being told prior.

For this new single is compiled of the band's usual dissonant guitar riffs and harmonies, lively drumming, madman-like lyrics and dynamic vocals, all with their typical knack for punchy songwriting. It's not a bad song by any means, and for an act that is as revered as these guys are, you could do a lot worse than using this as one of your returning songs for a new generation of ears.

As for the message behind the song, the band's enigmatic frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala has said that this new song is "a song about sexual abuse and being able to finally speak out", which makes the terms - incurably innocent - rather disconcerting now that I think about it. Then again, ATD-I's lyrics have always been deep and confronting in their origins and meanings, so this should come as no surprise to many.

'Incurably Innocent' comes nearly three months after the release of this new album's first single, 'Governed By Contagions'.

Now, will 'in • ter a • li • a' live up to the hype that so many fans have imposed on it? Probably not. Much like Watch Dogs or Star Wars VII, there's a good chance it'll still be good; just not as good as some will want it to be. Until that time comes, check out 'Incurably Innocent' below!

You can pre-order the 'in • ter a • li • a' here.