In the years following Ten Stories, a few things happened to mewithoutYou.

They added Brandon Beaver, who was a session player on Ten Stories as a full-time member. Then, they went on a special tour to celebrate Catch For Us the Foxes. Finally, they signed to Run For Cover Records, a haven of post-hardcore and punk bands.

You could look at that set of datum and conclude that they were returning to their punkier roots. And you’d be right.

While the singles from Ten Stories seemed to hint at the second coming of Foxes, it ultimately failed to deliver on those promises. It was a wonderful record in its own right, but it retained a lot of it’s all crazy!’s deranged whimsy.

But while touring for the Foxes anniversary, it seems like they rediscovered some things about themselves that they had largely forgotten. There’s a fire through this album that was largely absent through the last two releases. In interviews promoting this record, frontman Aaron Weiss admitted that while he listens to more folk than punk, mewithoutYou was a better punk band than a folk band. And pitting songs like “Red Cow” and “Blue Hen” against anything on the last two records, it’s hard to disagree.

Much of the record’s fire has to do with the way the album was written. After Ten Stories, Aaron set to work on his dissertation. He asked the rest of the band to wait until he was done to work on the new record. They agreed, but engaged in regular jam sessions without him. With the addition of a second guitarist, Mike Weiss was freed up to do more of the freeform, ambient noodling that he does best (best displayed here on songs like “D-Minor” and “Birnam Wood“). Meanwhile, drummer Rickie Mazzotta and bassist Greg Jehanian, who have always been the freshest punk rhythm section this side of Fugazi, laid their distinct free-ranging beat work. The result was the most furious music they had done in years—augmented on record by La Dispute producer Will Yip.

Aaron finished his thesis and told the band he was ready to get to work on a new record. They presented him what was essentially an entire album—accidentally written and awaiting the addition of his vocals.

While Brother, Sister, it’s all crazy!, and especially Ten Stories had focused thematic elements, Pale Horses finds Aaron more scatterbrained and stream-of-consciousness than ever. His references range from the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky to the Sacred Harp hymnbook to Magic: The Gathering (“Soon comes the swing from the Hammerhand,” he sings on “Lilac Queen“). The allusions are just as frequent as Ten Stories, yet even more obscure. But even through the rapidfire, reaching-in-all-directions of his references, there are some recurring themes: his recent marriage, the death of his father, and the end of the world. Closer “Rainbow Signs” ties up all of the disparate threads in the heaviest song they’d done since [A–>B] Life.

This isn’t to say that Pale Horses is a complete rejection of Aaron’s folksy tendencies. His voice is almost evenly split between shouting and singing. His acoustic guitar even makes an appearance on “Magic Lantern Days.” The Appendix, which features alternate versions and a few extra songs, is completely absent of shouted vocals. And some of those alternate versions are just as good as the versions on the album.

While there’s (surprisingly) a lot of disagreement over this album (I know some die-hard fans that don’t like it at all???), this is absolute top-tier in my book. Proof that fifteen years after founding (as a joke, remember), they still have as much fire and passion as ever.