Review / 200 Words Or Less
At the Drive-In
In•ter a•li•a

Rise (2017) — Kevin Fitzpatrick

At the Drive-In – In•ter a•li•a cover artwork
At the Drive-In – In•ter a•li•a — Rise, 2017

Interminable slack-ass Omar Rodriguez-Lopez only released 12 solo albums this year on Ipecac Records. So to alleviate the presumed guilt, he’s gotten the old band back together again. That band is At the Drive-In and as far as “reunion” albums go, In•ter a•li•a is a monster. 

While not quite a complete reunion, in a presto-change-o move, guitarist Jim Ward has been replaced by Sparta bandmate Keeley Davis, who does a more than admirable job keeping pace with Lopez.

In•ter a•li•a is the first album of new material for At the Drive-In since 2000’s Relationship of Command and the band, still fronted by human dynamo Cedric Bixler-Zavala haven’t lost a single joule of energy. Tearing through tunes like "Governed by Contagions" and "Incurably Innocent", the band has clearly gained enough momentum and goodwill through their absence that one can only hope and pray that AtDI is back for good.

At the Drive-In – In•ter a•li•a cover artwork
At the Drive-In – In•ter a•li•a — Rise, 2017

Related news

Record Store Day: At The Drive In

Posted in Records on October 21, 2017

Recently-posted album reviews

Contention

Nuclear Summer
Daze (2026)

Contention, I would argue, has spent the last few years at or near the top of the heap of the return to 90's styled Straight Edge Metalcore. I am being specific because there is no mistaking Contention's influences nor their message. This is a STRAIGHT EDGE band that is far more indebted to Morning Again that anything that uses a … Read more

A Secret Revealed

The Ruin I Summoned Forth
Lifeforce (2026)

There are albums that use heaviness as an assault and others that use it to create an atmosphere. On The Ruin I Summoned Forth, A Secret Revealed manage to does both. The German quintet’s fourth full-length is an enormous, bleak piece of post-metal, but calling it post-metal only gets you part of the way there. Black metal cuts through its … Read more

Time Spent Driving

Lost Leaves
Thirty Something Records (2026)

There's a particular challenge facing bands that came out of the late '90s and early '00s emo scene. You can recreate the sound people remember and risk becoming your own nostalgia act, or you can abandon it entirely and risk losing whatever made the band matter in the first place. Time Spent Driving choose neither on Lost Leaves. More than … Read more