Alexisonfire - Otherness (2022)^{Release ID: 37778}

I never thought in 20+ years that I would be reviewing an Alexisonfire album on Metal Academy, but here we are!

St. Catherines, Ontario isn't known for a lot of things; lying about ten minutes west of Niagara Falls, it's far enough away from the bustling Toronto area that many of its major attractions are a proverbial "best kept secret". That is except for Alexisonfire. This post-hardcore band have become one of this countries treasures in the rock and alternative communities, even as most south of the border associate us with Justin Bieber and Drake. Their sound can be best described as atmospheric hardcore with hints of metal thrown in as they matured. The dual vocals between Dallas Green and George Pettit sometimes remind me of the dual harmonies of Layne Stayley/William Duvall and Jerry Cantrell oof Alice in Chains albeit more contrapuntal instead of being straight harmonies.

So for the bands first studio album post-hiatus (Old Crows/Young Cardinals was released in 2009), Alexisonfire want to turn back the clock a little bit, while still continuing the trend that later albums hard with more atmospherics and slower tempos. George is screaming more on this record than the sing-scream that ran rampant on Old Crows/Young Cardinals, but I do not feel like they hit with the same intensity or bombast as they should. And I think it comes from Dallas Green of all things. Dallas has always had a smooth, grounded vocal timbre in Alexisonfire, allowing for George's to give more firepower. But here, not only are the clean vocals pushed back in the mix, but they are also swamped out with reverb and other effects that never felt this intrusive. As a result, George's screams feel cheesy and rarely fit with the tunes, even when they are the first set of vocals heard, such as on "Reverse the Curse".

This album does have some questionable moments production wise and most of them are in the mixing of the guitar. I have mentioned in rock albums reviews in recent years that the buzzy, compressed, and overall unflattering sound that has become commonplace thanks to bands like the Black Keys is inescapable, and how no one has been able to pull it off. Even Alexisonfire fall victim to this sound on some of their crossover songs like "Reverse the Curse" and "Sweet Dreams of Otherness", even though their sound is best designed for the open, wall-of-sound approach. That being said, I still enjoy "Reverse the Curse" because Alexisonfire know how to write a hook all these years later. "Survivor's Guilt", "Committed to the Con" and "Dark Night of the Soul" have wonderful crescendo's that culminate in some very nice releases. Even as some tunes (especially the closer "World Stops Turning") get me in that comfy vibe state that the best Alexisonfire songs have always been able to do, a familiar vocal motif does not let these songs turn into background noise.

I was fascinated by a new Alexisonfire record and I was not disappointed. It contains many of their classic traits, while doing enough to make it stand out from the early stuff. The albums best moments are stretched out instead of one track after the other, and even then, they do not live up to the expectations of an album like Crisis. Whether or not this belongs in the Metal Academy...since it sounds so much like previous Alexisonfire records, it's easy to just say no. This is a post-hardcore album through-and-through; a very good post-hardcore album mind you, and I hope this record will open them up to a wider, international audience. 

Best Songs: Committed to the Con, Sans Soleil, Conditional Love, Dark Night of the Soul, Reverse the Curse