Album: Old Crows / Young Cardinals
Artist: Alexisonfire
Label: Dine Alone Records
Release date: 23rd June 2009
Alexisonfire deserve considerable kudos for having managed to ride the emo/screamo wave over the last eight years, without ever sinking into its depths, and they’ve achieved it through pure technical skill. Their mixture of superb riffs, sweet melodies and a trio of talented vocalists have made each of their albums more interesting than the last, and with fourth LP Old Crows / Young Cardinals, they’ve done it again.
The new album is probably their most polished yet; the band seem to have found their direction and pursue it with huge passion. It’s also probably their most ‘punk’ album yet: guitarist Wade MacNeil takes a greater share of the vocal duties than previously seen, and the songwriting shows considerable social awareness (“Sons of Privilege” is the prime example, with its gripping chorus line ‘sweet lady liberty / you are lost, though you are free‘). Lyrically, the album shows a marked development in their songwriting style: the balance between vocalist George Pettit’s screams and guitarist Dallas Green harmonies is more effective than ever.
Alexisonfire are still the rabble-rousing riff-machine we know and love: there’s so much rage and so many massive choruses (“Accept Crime” is a particular gem - ‘We will be free / To use our bodies as we please / There’s no police / between two beating hearts‘), that it’s not hard to see how this band has amassed such a devoted following. With Old Crows / Young Cardinals, Alexisonfire have proven that they are still at the bleeding edge of modern post-hardcore, and show no signs of mellowing just yet.
Our Arbitrary Numerical Verdict:
Editor’s note: For the sake of disclosure, we should explain: we never got around to publishing this review at the time of release. This review was eventually published on 15th August, and back-dated to free up space for more current material on the front-page. This categorically has no bearing on how the album was reviewed, or the score it was given.
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Marcus Kernohan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Stereokill.net. Email him at 
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