"Now that we are without, what are we within?" BlindSight asks in Exit Wound's lead-off track, "Now That We Are," and if the album can be summed up in one statement, that may be as good as any. The long-gestating follow up to 2005's "Caution Devil" finds the band much more musically focused, even while the subject matter takes an unexpected turn toward the personal and existential. Forgoing his usual snarky societal critiques (with the possible exception of "Better Believe It," a high-energy take down of cable tv punditry), songwriter Chuck Schwien infuses the new album with more intimate concepts, from the death of his parents ("Dark Sea," "Irish, Revisited") to the birth of his children ("A Better Me," "Aberdeen"), the collapse of his marriage ("For You"), and emotional demons ('The Down Side"). While "Exit Wounds" has a decidedly darker tone lyrically, on first pass you barely notice as songs streak by with energy, hooky choruses and funk-infused beats. Singer Brian Seachrist has perhaps never been as energized and present; from the hard rock bombast of "Better Believe It," the intimate confessional voice of "The Down Side," the smart aleck smarminess of "Hand to God," or the airy layers of "Beauty Like a Bullet," he slips from landscape to landscape with ease. Lead guitarist Keith Varney likewise shows stylistic dexterity, whether burning down the house with a ferocious solo on "Now That We Are," Daryl Stuermer-esque ethereal background layers to "Beauty Like a Bullet," emotional resonance to "Dark Sea" " or wanky wah-wah to "Haunted." Exit Wounds marks a notable milestone in BlindSight's evolution as the band manages to turn inward while remaining accessible, engaging and ever-so sing-alongable.