June 8, 2004 - Watch Out!

On the same day as my last release and a little under two years since "Alexisonfire", Alexisonfire released their second album "Watch Out!" on June 8, 2004. Alexisonfire are still playing the same post-hardcore style as their amazing debut, but there's definitely a bigger emphasis this album on Dallas Green's melodic singing and also a bit more experimentation. Let's see what that all sounds like! 

The album kicks off with "Accidents" and it's deiven by a pretty catchy, albeit not that heavy guitar riff. The rest of the band joins in as the pace picks up and George Pettit sounds great screaming the verse overtop in his wonderfully high voice. George and Dallas combine nicely in a short bridge before Dallas takes over the chorus and he sounds pretty epic singing the chorus with a bunch of catchy "whoa-oh-oh"-ing in the background. After another unique and interesting round they quiet things right down as Chris Steele plays some pretty cool bass. This part is definitely experimental, but it's very eerie and smooth and sounds pretty cool. They ramp nicely back into the bridge and end with a final catchy chorus and this was a pretty cool way to kick things off to a new era of Alexisonfire!  Up next is "Control" and they jump right into a more typical, technical main riff with both Green and Wade MacNeil playing some cool guitars. George is nicely screaming right from the get-go as the head is instantly banging, then the mood shifts suddenly but smoothly into a quieter new riff as Dallas starts to sing a new verse in his high and amazing voice. This riff is lighter for sure but it's very smooth and epic as Alexisonfire show that some experimentation and less hardcore doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. They combine Dallas's lighter riff and George's heavier one very nicely on this song, giving us the best of both worlds. Track 3 is "It Was Fear Of Myself That Made Me Odd" and they slowly ease their way into a light opening riff as Dallas sings the first epic verse. He is the centerpiece for over a minute in this quiet but epic opening, then things start to shift into more typical territory with some cool faster guitar, and when the the rhythm section kicks in the new riff is in full force and George is screaming overtop. This part segues into just bass and drums for a few bars as Jesse Inglevics plays some cool drums, then they guitars, Dallas and George all come slamming in for a pretty sweet and heavy new part that closes out the track. The next song is "Side Walk When She Walks" and after a trippy opening they hit nicely into a heavy chorus riff with Dallas holding some nice long notes overtop. Wade plays some epic lead guitar that nicely segues us from the chorus to the first verse and then Dallas comes in with a cool lighter rhythm guitar riff and another epicly sung verse; everything Dallas sings just sounds so good! Steele and Inglevics get another chance to shine with a quiet part where the bass and drums shine through, but they're doing this in the background the whole time. George isn't on this song at all with Wade adding backing vocals while Dallas sings the whole thing and it's good for sure, but I miss George! The song appears to be ending with over a minute left still and the final minute is an acoustic version of the chorus riff that is an interesting way to slowly bring another unique song to an end. Track 5 is called ""Hey, It's Your Funeral Mama"" and right away we've got a catchy drum beat, some solid bass, some thrash-y rhythm guitar and some epic lead guitar that combine for a super upbeat and catchy main riff! The lead guitar is just phenomenal and George sounds awesome screaming his head off! The awesome music continues in the chorus and Dallas and Wade both join in on vocals in the chorus and the three singer approach is done very nicely! For three and a half minutes this is easily my favourite song on the album so far, then there's a not-so-great segue to a new riff that just seems too out of place. It's a soft, instrumental riff that is decent for sure, and it flows right into the next song, so it maybe should've just been at the beginning of that one instead of the end of this awesome song. Up next is "No Transitory" and I really love how Dallas and George compliment each other on this one. George is screaming as per usual but more like their last album Dallas is singing simultaneously and the combination of the high screams and the beautiful singing sounds really good! Dallas sounds pretty epic by himself as well and no matter what vibe they're going for on this song they are fucking nailing it! George let's out one hell of a loud and heavy scream midway through and he also ends the song with a similar scream; what a savage way to wrap things up! Track 7 is "Sharks And Danger" and Steele is playing some pretty cool bass right from the get-go. Some light but smooth guitars enter and instead of singing for the first bit of this song we hear a phone ring, a woman pick up and say "St. Catherine's psychiatric help line how can I help you?" followed by a man/patient. This is easily the most experimental song on the album and while the music is solid it's comfortably in the background and things sound kinda dull by Alexisonfire standards. This lasts for over a minute until Dallas comes in to sing the first verse and his smooth voice fits the light mood very nicely. Towards the end George finally joins in with a little bit of screaming and he combines nicely with Wade in the closing section as Wade gets his biggest vocal part on the album with a few lines and he sounds good as well! Another capable singer in the fold! The next track is "That Girl Possessed" and after a short trippy intro they slam into a nice heavy chorus riff and George screams a nice chorus overtop. The verse is much faster and my head is banging heavily along to this pretty sweet main riff. We get a taste of all three singers together as Wade and Dallas both join in for a short part that sounds pretty cool, then George is back in the spotlight and he just sounds so heavily epic all the time! Track 9 is "White Devil" and to say it's a typical main riff would seem criminal considering how unique and interesting these guys are, but it checks all the boxes: cool drums, pretty sweet bass (if you listen for it), nice heavy guitars and George screaming his head off! After a couple solid rounds Wade gets a chance to sing by himself and he sounds solid singing quickly along with the music. Dallas only adds backing vocals until the very end of this song and all three singers sound solid at the end here; they're so dynamic and keep things fresh and interesting the whole way through! Up next is "Get Fighted" and Ingelevics plays a super catchy drum beat, the guitars start light but foreshadow something darker coming and Dallas sings a light verse overtop to match the mood perfectly! They ramp very smoothly into a more typical chorus and Dallas and George play off each other perfectly in a perfect example of what makes Alexisonfire so fucking good! They are both such amazing singers in their own way and Dallas beautiful voice and George's visceral screams sound so great together! They end it splendidly as well and this is definitely one of my favourites among the many great songs on this album! They wrap things up with "Happiness By The Kilowatt" and they kick right into another solid main riff at first, then things nicely fade into a quiet new riff with Wade leading the way with a super epic and awesome main guitar riff while Dallas sings the perfectly beautiful verse to match. Wade adds some backing vocals in the chorus while Dallas does some "whoa-oh-oh-oh" singing, which isn't my favourite but it's still good. When George comes in suddenly and violently it hits so hard and awesome, then he's gone again and Dallas takes over for another light, epic verse. Everything sounds pretty great and it's a fantastic way to close out a fantastic album.

That is the end of "Watch Out!" and I thought it was another phenomenal album from Alexisonfire. These guys don't take their foot off the pedal at all, even when their slowing it down temporarily everything sounds super smooth and epic, and of course the heavy and faster parts are just some awesome metal! Throw in two amazing singers, and even a third decent one and you've got yourself one pretty freaking amazing band. The fact that I think it does not surpass their self-titled debut should not be taken as a knock on their experimentation. This album was really fucking good and much more mature and diverse than their debut, but "Alexisonfire" was just so fucking awesome that I honestly think it's still a no contest. Still an amazing effort and I can't wait to see where Alexisonfire go from here!