Oct. 31, 2002 - Alexisonfire and Alexisonfire

Two days after my last release a new band joins my library when Alexisonfire released their debut album "Alexisonfire" on October 31, 2002. But who is Alexisonfire? They are a five-piece post-hardcore band from St. Catharine's, Ontario consisting of drummer Jesse Ingelevics, bassist Chris Steele, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Wade MacNeil, rhythm guitarist and clean singer Dallas Green, and lead/screaming vocalist George Pettit. Alexisonfire are a unicorn in the hardcore community; at times they play some really fast, super heavy music with some very heavy vocals, and at other times they can be quite melodic and smooth with Green adding a beautiful singing voice as well. Let's see what Alexisonfire is all about!

The album opens with ".44 Caliber Love Letter" and Green plays a slightly space-y and cool rhythm guitar riff while MacNeil plays some epic lead guitar overtop. The rhythm section eventually joins in to add some heavy oomph to the background and MacNeil continues to play lots of cool guitar in this long instrumental opening. After two minutes they shift into a completely new direction for the first verse and we get out first taste of the hardcore awesomeness that is Alexisonfire: catchy and fast drums, nice heavy bass, both guitarists playing completely different riffs, but everything meshing very nicely, and the uniqueness that is the combination of Pettit and Green's vocals. Green sings in such a clear, beautiful voice in the background and Pettit screams in a high voice that is pretty hard to understand, but it's unbelievably heavy. The fact that they make these two vocal styles somehow work not just in the same song, but both singing at the same is what makes Alexisonfire so unique, and so freaking sweet! Words will continue to not do proper justice, what a fantastic way to introduce yourselves to the world! Up next is "Counterparts And Number Them" and it's just very difficult to describe Alexisonfire's erratic style in words. There's a fuck ton of cool guitar from both MacNeil and Green and once again the combination of Green's singing and Pettit's screaming sounds phenomenal. This song is on the shorter side, but it was jam-packed with awesomeness throughout! Track 3 is "Adelleda" and it's got a much slower pace (at first) than the first two songs, but it doesn't lack in the hardcore department with George sounding fantastic belting out all kinds of high screams. Dallas continues to sound great singing in the background and Ingelevics plays some sweet drums throughout this five-plus minute song. As is going to be he case with most of their songs, words just struggle to properly describe all that is going on in this wonderfully controlled chaos. The ending is very quiet and MacNeil and Green combine two light guitar riffs for a pretty cool melodic ending to an otherwise nice and heavy tune. The next track is titled "A Dagger Through The Heart Of St. Angeles" and this just might be one of my favourite songs ever, I really think it's that good! I couldn't possibly describe all the awesome parts in it or all the amazing guitar that is played, these guys are amazing unicorns, making new and awesome music that is unlike any kind of metal I've listened to, before or after! After a couple fantastic rounds they quiet things down and play a really cool melodic part, George just talks quickly overtop of it  and then they slam so fucking hard into the next part with some absolutely phenomenal shredding by MacNeil, some fantastic screams by Pettit and some really great singing by Green as well! It's all so good! Probably my favourite song on the album! Track 5 is called "Polaroids Of Polar Bears" and it starts off super space-y with Green playing some trippy rhythm guitar and MacNeil adding some faster lead guitar that sounds pretty epic. After over a minute they finally segue nicely into a more typical main riff, and by that mean some pretty awesome guitar from both guitarists and some more beautifully blended vocals. It's super fast and indescribably awesome! Then they segue back to the trippy opening riff, but Wade adds a new layer with a new epic guitar riff as they start to slowly build and build until George is wonderfully screaming the name of the song over and over, while Dallas adds some super long-held backing vocals. Just another mind-blowingly awesome song! Up next is "Water Wings (And Other Poolside Fashion Faux Pas)" and they duve right into another pretty sweet main riff with MacNeil leading the way with some cool guitar and Pettit quickly screaming overtop. Along with Green's clean vocals we hear Wade adding a third voice to the mix sometimes and he's got a raspy voice that adds another heavy layer to things! Ingelevics drums are pretty tight and solid the whole way through and words fail again to describe all the cool guitars played by both MacNeil and Green. They just keep the hardcore hits coming! Track 7 is "Where No One Knows" and MacNeil and Green are both playing some pretty cool guitar once again: either riff would be enough for a main riff for most bands, but somehow they combine these two fast and different riffs and make them work very smoothly together. Steele's bass is really good on this song as well and Green takes a turn on lead vocals as well with Pettit screaming nicely in the background. Dallas sounds fantastic taking the lead and although this is one of the "lighter" songs so far, it's still pretty heavy honestly and it all sounds pretty good. The next track is called "The Kennedy Curse" and Green plays an echo-y rhythm guitar riff in this slow intro, before they slam into a more typical, fast-paced main riff with all the usual awesome elements. After a couple rounds they quiet things right down as Green sings a soft verse in this cooper melodic part, then they slam nicely into a heavy part with Pettit showing us he can go low as well! He goes death growl low for a short verse and he sounds phenomenal, why doesn't he mix this in more often?! Just some more unique and mind-blowing metal! Track 9 is "Jubella" and words are absolutely not doing proper justice when I say they dive right into a typical Alexisonfire main riff; their "typical" is just so out of this world with more great guitars and Pettit's harsh screams leading the way. The simultaneous screaming and singing continues to sound really great, MacNeil plays some fantastic guitar that stops and speeds up to the max in such a short span, and Ingelevics has a few super speedy drum fills that sound incredible as well! For a two and a half minute song, there's so much awesomeness going on! Superb! Up next is "Little Girls Pointing And Laughing" and Green starts us off with a light rhythm guitar riff to keep the pace and the segues are all really smooth on this one as they build up to a louder version of the same riff and eventually shift even heavier further into the song. The back and forth between George and Dallas is just phenomenal once again and MacNeil plays some slow and super epic lead guitar. There is nothing even remotely close to a bad song on this whole album! "Pulmonary Archery" will wrap up the album and MacNeil and Green both play some super trippy guitar in this very space-y and cool intro. Once the rhythm section joins things start to have some heavy oomph behind them and they segue beautifully from this intro into the main portion of the song with Green playing a really cool rhythm guitar riff and MacNeil playing some fantastic speedy lead guitar overtop. Enter Pettit's harsh screams and Green's beautiful backing vocals and this all combines for some more jaw-dropping amazing stuff! This goes on tight until the end of the song and it's a pretty phenomenal way to close out a pretty phenomenal album!

That is the end of "Alexisonfire" and I think this is one of the best debut albums... of all time, and that's really saying something! It's unbelievable how tight and amazing these give guys are at such a young age and they bring a fresh and 100% unique style to the table, they simply are unlike any other band in history. Whatever the weakest song was, it was still really freaking good and there were at least five songs that were absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to hear where they go from here!