complete creative control to record Siren Song of the Counter Culture. The band members went into the album with the assumption that DreamWorks was going to drop them at any moment, so they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity by working with their "dream producer". They chose Garth Richardson, known for his work with heavier sounding bands like Rage Against the Machine and Sick of It All, to produce the album. The recording sessions for Siren Song of the Counter Culture were split between Plumper Mountain Sound in Gibsons, British Columbia, and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. Richardson insisted on recording the guitar and bass one measure at a time, to ensure perfect timing; as a result, each song took nearly twelve hours to record. Canadian politician Nicholas Simons contributed the cello to four songs. Simons met the band while in Gibsons, and recalled not knowing who they were. The writing and recording sessions for Siren Song of the Counter Culture were marred by numerous distractions and inconveniences. In November 2003, DreamWorks was acquired by Universal Music Group for US$100 million, and eventually folded into Geffen Records. The transition period between labels left Rise Against without an A&R representative, and little acknowledgement from Geffen executives. Guitarist Todd Mohney left the band during the writing sessions, was replaced by Chris Chasse of Reach the Sky. McIlrath noted that the band members was nervous about teaching Chasse completely new songs in a short period. Meanwhile, McIlrath was experiencing more personal distractions. Some Rise Against fans accused the band of selling out after signing with DreamWorks. Although McIlrath felt that most of the fans would realize that the band had not changed upon hearing the album, it still bothered him knowing that some longtime fans now hated the band for switching labels. Additionally, McIlrath's wife, who was seven months pregnant, went into labor while he was in the vocal booth. The band temporarily moved recording sessions from Vancouver to Chicago so that McIlrath could be with his wife. Composition Siren Song of the Counter Culture is primarily rooted in hardcore punk and melodic hardcore. According to Ultimate Guitar Archive, the album contains archetypal elements of punk rock, including "fast-paced drum beats, powerful guitar chords and thrashing bass lines". Each song has multiple guitar layers combined with rhythmic arrangements, which add "melodic flavor". Critics have compared the album to works by