There is an ongoing controversy at sites such as this over what falls close enough to “metal” to be reviewed. I held off reviewing this album for a long time because I didn’t think it fit, but I’ve finally changed my mind.

The importance of the cross-pollination between the punk and metal scenes since the 1970s is obvious, but since the original golden age of extreme metal, where you could very easily put Napalm Death and Discharge in the same sentence without batting an eyelid, they have led separate lives. Much of the time, there is no fiery animosity that might conceal deep similarities, there is just indifference, and distance. Supporting Caste is a strange one, because in many ways it is hardly the album to bridge this gap. Forget the clear and conversational, poppy North American vocals that would never be heard in metal in a million years; the real sticking point is the lyrics, something which this band has always focused on very intensely. Propagandhi are Chomskyite libertarian socialists, and probably the most eloquent communicators of these ideas I have ever heard in the cliché-ridden world of the rock lyric. They are vegetarians, and metal is full of carnivores. But I’m not going to lie to you; after devoting so much time to gore-worshipping brutal death metal and “slavic heritage”-themed underground black metal, coming back to this band is a hell of a breath of fresh air, and always makes me wonder what I’m missing.

Why, then, is this here? If you want a clue, let’s take a look at the “hidden track” that lurks somewhere within closer Last Will and Testament’s 15 minute running-length. It’s the one thing I would never have expected; a truly riotous cover of Black Widow’s satanic proto-metal classic, Come to the Sabbat. Absolutely wonderful. Is this just a pisstake? Like those bands I used to watch when I was younger doing tongue-in-cheek ska-punk versions of For Whom the Bell Tolls? Seems unlikely, because musically Supporting Caste is a raging, technically flamboyant, sometimes immensely brutal punk-speed metal fusion, from a band that could quite obviously make a great pure metal band if they wanted.

Night Letters, for example, is a pyrotechnic rush of dense and violent riffs underlying a melodious, emotionally charged vocal line. Supporting Caste picks up and discards authentic thrash riffs at will. The same could be said for the blasting This is Your Life, in which Master of Puppets merges with spitting Poison Idea viciousness. What’s also notable is the general compositional approach, which at times borders on the progressive, as inimicable as that may be to punk itself. There are frequent changes in tack; often bringing in slower, almost ambient ideas for short periods, as with the eerie Western breakdown in the title track, which actually reminds me of the last Earth, for a fleeting moment. There is even the odd guitar solo, making a spectatular and flamboyant appearance in Human(e) Meat….

This is the most consistently strong album I’ve heard from Propagandhi (although I’m not familiar with all their work). The songs are anthemic in the way you expect from punk music, but there is a rare level of steel in the instrumentation. Intense and memorable, and most likely would appeal to people that would otherwise write it off.