Title: Alexisonfire – Old Crows/Young Cardinals

Reviewer: Jess Gillon

Rating: 11/10

This album is most definitely one of the best new releases this year in the post hardcore genre. You may remember Alexisonfire playing the first solid sonic gig in New Zealand a couple of years ago. I regret that I missed this show, and hopefully, with the release of Old Crows/Young Cardinals, they will once more grace our shores. If you have not heard of this band, now is the time to listen to their back catalogue, comprising of their self titled debut and brilliant albums Watch Out! and Crisis..

 Alexisonfire brings to the table something a little different this time around, although the vocal harmonies between George and Dallas continue to impress. The lyrics of this album and the artwork suggest a social commentary on the world, especially noticeable on the tracks Emerald Street and Midnight Regulations. The Northern, as the inside cover states, is “based on the hymn “roll jordan roll”” and on this track it is noticeable how diverse Alexisonfire’s sound can be.

Alexisonfire is an intellectual band; this comes across strongly in their lyrics. My favourite line of theirs comes from the album “Crisis” where they state

“sometimes love isn’t about how much someone suits you/but how much you are willing to change to suit them”

The band has matured and grown since their earlier releases. Old Crows /Young Cardinals has a more serious tone in regards to the way it discusses youth growing up in today’s society, the reality of hard work to carve out your place in the world, the coming of age and uncertainty. We are constantly bombarded from all angles by a range of media, so what do we believe in? Everything is moving so fast as we grow up. It can seem hard to keep up with the speed and the way the world around us is changing. These ideas seem to be reflected in the choice of title for the album and lyrics such as

 “the more we move/the less we are ourselves/and when we finally stop/we’ve changed to something else”

Combined with both intense chugging guitars and moments of lightness, Alexisonfire has created an album that satisfies both their original fan base and will attract many new listeners. If you are unfamiliar to the band, but like the current single “Young Cardinals” the rest of the album will not disappoint, and will act as a gateway to one of the most epic post hardcore bands. In my opinion, it gets an eleven out of ten.