Solo rockers aren’t as common as they used to be, and when it comes to competing with bands, the fight has never been an easy one. With that said, Paul Maged is issuing yet another fierce performance this fall in the form of “Culture War,” his latest single and music video to firmly plant a rock n’ roll flag in another decade of history. For a number of years now, Maged has been on a mission to keep the spirit of rock alive and thriving, and some could make the argument that his work in “Culture War” might be the most aggressive of his career to date.

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There’s not as much virtuosity to the guitar parts as there is an emphasis on the beefiness of the riffing, but I don’t think this should be a big issue for most rockers who check out the track. The most significant centerpiece here is definitely the sizeable grooves that we find the string play weaving itself around from the start of the song, and although it gets to be a little claustrophobic (almost exclusively because of the insularity created by the master mix), it’s also smothering in a fashion I would normally expect out of a metal song more than I would a hard rock number.

Paul Maged has been around for a while now, and in this most recent output he’s flexing the muscle he’s built up since first getting into this game more than a decade and a half ago. His experience speaks for itself, and though he’s not operating on the commercial level some of his rock god forerunners once did, I don’t know that he needs to for his music to have as credible an impact as theirs did. He’s nowhere near the finish line, and if you didn’t think so beforehand, I think this release will convince you otherwise.

John McCall