From the Ashes is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Pennywise. Background and recording Pennywise released their sixth studio album, Land of the Free?, in June 2001. The band promoted it with a short stint on the Warped Tour, a Midwestern tour of the United States, and shows in Australia and Japan until April 2002. After this, guitarist Fletcher Dragge spent three months writing material for their next album. In November 2002, it was reported that they had spent a few months in a studio, having completed 15 demos. In January 2003, the band began recording their next album; sessions continued into April 2003. Sessions were held at Stall #2 in Redondo Beach, California; Darian Rundall and the band produced the proceedings. Drummer Byron McMackin said 14 songs were recorded from a potential pool of over 30. They took a break from recording to play a benefit show in February 2003. The band took further time out when Dragge's father died; the album was eventually mixed in June 2003. Composition and lyrics Music and themes AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus described the album's sound as punk rock and said it borrowed a "page from NOFX's War on Errorism, promoting an agenda of awareness amidst its fist-pumping, sun-drenched anthems". Stein Haukland of Ink 19 referred to the album has skate punk with elements of hardcore punk. Lollipop Magazine writer Ewan Wadharmi classified it as hard rock and compared the guitar riffs to the work of Bon Jovi and Thin Lizzy. He wrote that it explores the "political whistle-blowing of Land of the Free?" as the band attempt to "answer what to do in the aftermath". The overall sound of From the Ashes recalled that of Pennywise's third studio album About Time (1995), while one reviewer referred to it as their "most fuming album" since their fourth studio effort Full Circle (1997), with the combination of "[s]ub-grindcore drums; chugging, circle-pit guitar; and Jim Lindberg's distinctive vocals, all velvet and venom". Larry Getlen of CityLink Magazine said the music was a "generation removed from that of the band's hardcore predecessors, with many of the drum fills and guitar licks owing more to metal than punk". Dragge said the lyrics for From the Ashes were written as a reaction to Land of the Free?, which received a minor backlash from some people due to its political nature. He explained that following