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Ignite
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Our Darkest Days
Abacus Recordings
Release: 5/16/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Matthew Nanes
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Once upon a time, I was in junior high just barely getting into punk rock. At the time (1996), it consisted of a healthy dose of Bad Religion, Descendents and Blink 182. One of my first punk rock shows was Bad Religion at the Utah State Fairpark with The Promise Ring (what a weird choice that was) and a hardcore band called Ignite. I had heard Ignite before but wasn't that big on them but after that night they had impressed me very much through the very fast punk beats and melodic, clean singing. But it was still aggressive enough to swing your fists to. Several years later, I had all but forgotten Ignite. All had forgotten them until I started seeing press releases for their new album, Our Darkest Days.
From the moment I had put it in my car stereo, I was immediately singing along to the chorus of "Bleeding." Singer Zoli Teglas has some of the best, original vocals in hardcore today and all throughout the record he outdoes himself. From "Bleeding" to the range shattering "Fear Is Our Tradition," Zoli's opera-trained vocals seamlessly blend over melodic hardcore that fans of Comeback Kid and Rise Against should be hardcore dancing to.
Along with the aforementioned songs, two other standout songs are "Know Your History," the fastest song on the record that Ignite prompts the listener to think about the mistakes that man has made over time and the surprisingly strong cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." On the latter song, they are able to put their own stamp of melodic hardcore with Zoli's vocals that are equally or even better than Bono's own fine baritone.
Our Darkest Days is a solid hardcore release that will appeal to hardcore pit dancers and punks alike with its socio-political lyrics and infectious songwriting. It will probably be sadly overlooked but be one of the few who will love this great album. |
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