Album review: Alexisonfire: 'Old Crows, Young Cardinals'

ALEXISONFIRE: 'Old Crows, Young Cardinals' (Vagrant)

Hear the name ‘Alexisonfire’ and the first image that comes to mind is of a black, bleeding heart, courtesy of 2002 fan favourite ‘.44 Caliber Love Letter.’ Marrying the emotional torture of lost love with an excessive revenge complex, the track single-handedly distils contemporary emo culture, giving the band a great deal to answer for.

In 2009, however, Alexisonfire want to break free of their self-imposed shackles, taking the .44 to both their history and the copycats trailing in their wake. Carrying on from where 2006’s ‘Crisis’ left off, ‘Old Crows, Young Cardinals’ largely abandons the faux-punk stylings of screamo in favour of something more complex, a sort of fusion of the raw energies of post-hardcore and alternative rock. Together, the title tracks make up the best thing they’ve ever done, full of explosive rage and determination. George sings ‘we are not the kids we used to be’ on the terrifyingly heavy ‘Old Crows’ and you don’t dare question him. And then the colossal drums of ‘Young Cardinals’ come crashing down around your head, and the guitars are cranked to ‘ear bleed’, shattering your senses and leaving you almost too weather-beaten to cope with the immensely addictive Deftones-esque chorus.

There are other unexpected excursions too. ‘Song of Privilege’ and ‘Midnight Regulations’ take a more socio-political stance: apparently, George ‘find[s] himself concerned for the common man these days’, and while his proselytising may seem a little tokenist, the band deserve credit for venturing outside of their comfort zone. It’s mid-album slowie ‘The Northern’ that’s the biggest departure though, with the sort of prog undertones that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Tool record. It’s magnificent, managing even to incorporate George’s gravely screams without seeming gratuitous.

Unfortunately, ‘Old Crows, Young Cardinals’ peters out somewhat towards the end, falling back on familiar territory with a string of songs that sound like they’ve been plucked out of Screamo for Dummies. It’s as if the band lost their bottle, chickening out on their daring project before its climax. It’s a great shame, as the first eight tracks raise the bar so far over the genre’s head that it’s barely visible any more. A very brave effort on the whole though, and one that contains some of Alexisonfire’s greatest work to date. They’re certainly not the kids they used to be, and thank our black, bleeding hearts for that. (7/10)