On Prove It — the fifth installment of The Expendables album stash — the punk rocking Santa Cruz outfit continues to prove their ability to blend distinctly different sounds: emphatic, mosh-ready metal and smooth, message-ridden reggae.

From the first chord played on the album’s opening track “How Many Times,” the reggae metalheads jam out their fist-pumping, head banging brand of party tunes. Songs like “Corporate Cafeteria” sticks it to the man with lyrics like “I try and try to fast all day / The media serves such a hot, hot plate / Of fabricated lies / Celebrity teeny-bop punch / The corporate cafeteria is serving lunch” delivered in a more assertive tone by singer Geoff Weers and set against aggressive metal riffage and thrashing drums.

"D.C.B." is a five-minute instrumental that begins with melodic guitar and shimmering symbols before transitioning into a metal shred-fest carried by the heavy basslines of Ryan DeMars and the rhythm bursting drums of Adam Patterson, all before slowing down again and cycling through another aggressive guitar duel between Weers and Raul Bianchi, then speeding up and taking listeners into the next metal-rock track — “Mind Control” — without skipping a beat.

This article appears in May 20-26, 2010.