Muffin's Blood

For those not in the know, Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis On Fire"), has been on the post-hardcore/punk scene for quite some time - nearly a decade now, in fact. And they've managed to maintain all but one original member. They've got four full length releases under their belt, with the best, in my opinion, being 2006's Crisis.

Now, they're back in town with a four song EP entitled Dog's Blood. A lot of fans had complaints about the direction AOF had started to take with their latest LP Old Crows/Young Cardinals. It would appear that the band heard and decided to do something about it. Dog's Blood brings back the borderline hardcore feel of old AOF with a vengeance. Now, like I said above, I absolutely loved Crisis - I consider it not only AOF's best, but it is also one of my all time favorite records. This EP takes some cues from that style, but speeds them up and cranks the volume to 11.

The title track starts our musical journey off with a single guitar and the drums keeping pace. I received my first, albeit my only, disappointment at this point when I heard the production on the EP. It's not of the same caliber of previous AOF releases, and I'll be honest, it hurt my initial opinion of Dog's Blood. However, they quickly made up for it with George Pettit's and Dallas Green's scream/clean vocal combination. The two work together perfectly to give this EP the perfect AOF sound that we all have grown to love.

Track two, "Grey",  brings a little swing beat to the party and some haunting guitars courtesy of heavy reverb effects. Pettit's gritty vocals float through the air, complementing the downtrodden feel of the whole song. "Black As Jet" follows next with a punk beat and guitars to match. I really enjoyed the play on words here in the title, and the song really shows a talent for crafting an enjoyable song to listen to.

AOF closes up their latest effort with a long instrumental - just over 6 minutes long. "Vex" has everything ranging from atmospheric, quiet gutiars with a bass to match to bluesy solos to rock 'n' roll lead parts. The boys of AOF really showcase the talent they have in this EP-closer.

Overall, I really enjoyed this EP, even if it was only four songs long. It shows that Alexisonfire are still doing what they do best: keeping the heart and soul of post-hardcore alive. Definitely check out Dog's Blood. Now.