There may be only one way to describe “Revelations,” the newest album from hard rock super group Audioslave: funk. Picking up where Rage Against the Machine’s Renegades of Funk: left off, the third studio album by the foursome takes a left turn from their traditional and textured sound to experiment with much of the influential sounds and styles that have motivated the musicians throughout their careers.

So far, the band has thrived off the innovative and distinctive guitar work of Tom Morello, as well as commanding bass lines from Tim Commerford. However, the two have morphed their traditional approach into harder and edgier rhythms than ever before. It’s Earth Wind and Fire meets Led Zeppelin, Morello explained in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine.

The tone of the album shines through on Revelations’ second track, One in the Same. The song features choppy up-tempo rhythm along with Morello’s unmistakable wa-wa instrumental technique. The high pitched, scuffed vocals of front man Chris Cornell bounce in step with the songs high spirited soul and personify the connection between the two. Just like blood in rain/ love and pain/ are one in the same, cries Cornell over it all.

Following suit with the funk is Broken City, the most groove dependent track on the album. Using that heavy bass and beat, the song is a head bopping spectacle that combines this rhythm and blues melody with the scratching and screaming strings of Morello’s guitar.

But if you’re raising an eyebrow to the thought of a new Audioslave sound, you can relax because there’s still a lot of what’s made them what they are. Sound of a Gun provides much of the loose and free rock that’s defined them since their inception and the album’s first single Original Fire is every bit as Audioslave as the band’s very first single, but may suggest a focal change of things to come.

And Cornell rounds out Revelations by staying true to its name. Wide Awake is a steady and patient ballad with just a hint of anger. Focusing on the slow government response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, Cornell wails, You can look a hurricane right in the eye/ twelve hundred people dead or left to die. Fairly analogous to I am the Highway the long and broad vocals fade with each line and die softly under the building strength and finesse of the melody.

Although not quite as eye opening as the bands prior record, Out of Exile, Revelations shines because of its sheer originality and the willingness of the members to experiment with their sound. And when great song writing and finely tuned instrumentals are melded, it’s not often the final product is something not worth listening to. The third album from Audioslave is a sign of their evolution into something much greater.

Rating: 3 Stars

Total stars possible: 4

Josh Huggett can be reached reached at [email protected]