Alexisonfire – Dogs Blood

An idea that has been floating around for a while, Canadian punk outfit Alexisonfire finally found some time to record this EP and get it out to the masses. Having gained critical acclaim and admirers after the record Old Crows/Young Cardinals, Dogs Blood was set to show the forward direction of the bands music. What it ended up achieving was showing a different side to the musical scope of the five musicians and created a piece that may polarise their fans even more.

Dogs Blood is in the same vein of “Old Crows..” heavy, melodic and intense. Again, the blend of George and Dallas’ vocals complement each other as the band play with a synchronisation that comes from the amount of touring they have done in the last fifteen months.

Grey starts of sounding like a b-side from the ‘Old Crows..’ album. Musically it has a similar groove to Midnight Regulations off the album. Yet the tracks lacks that hook to really drag you in. In feels almost like a stoner rock song. Deep, heavy, repetitive with floating guitar leads and only George’s gruff vocal.

Black As Jet revisits the early sounds of Alexisonfire. Fans of albums like Watch Out and Crisis will like this track the most. It’s a straight up hardcore punk song. Fast, driven and full of venom. It ends with the band just jamming it out for a few minutes and is a real punch in the face from the previous track.

Final track Vex is where they may polarise fans. An instrumental track which has a real prog rock feel to it leaves you wandering is this where Alexisonfire is heading towards musically, or was it a piece that they needed to get out? Either way the six minute epic does highlight the musical talent of the band and breaks the mould they’ve been put into yet again.

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