ALBUM REVIEW: Ignite – Ignite
Melodic hardcore mainstays IGNITE return with their first album in six years; their long-awaited self-titled opus, which follows 2016’s comeback album A War Against You, is another collection of impassioned and anthemic songs, packed full of their trademark mixture of fury and melody.
Much has changed for the Orange County band in recent years, with a new line-up introducing new vocalist Eli Santana, but on the tracks on this record, it sounds like the band have playing with each other for years, such is the natural musical vibe they have with each other. Santana fits right in with the rest of IGNITE with a mighty vocal performance – just check out his impassioned roar at the conclusion of lead single The River for proof.
From the explosive opener Anti-Complicity Anthem onwards, IGNITE blast through 11 songs that have everything that you love about their sound nailed. They give off a familiar feeling after only the first listen, and they will surely be firm favourites when they are cranked out in a live environment.
That live environment is where IGNITE thrive, and although there is no doubt that these songs sound massive coming out of your speakers, you can only imagine how massive they will sound when they are played live. Songs like On The Ropes, Call Off The Dogs and The House Is Burning are all ready-made IGNITE anthems, dealing in fast-paced hardcore but with a catchiness and that all important melodic aspect which IGNITE have nailed ever since the start of their career and continue to do so to this day.
The band deal with a number of important issues in the songs on this album and they are all handled in a mature and hopeful manner, such as on songs like This Day, which is about the racial tensions that have shaped the world over the last few years, and The River, which tackles the subject of immigration. It is great to see these subjects being addressed by a band in this manner, in the way that so many great punk and hardcore bands have done in the past.
While IGNITE have not really wavered in their blend of high energy hardcore with crucial melodic elements since they first emerged, it doesn’t matter when the songs are as strong as they are here. This is IGNITE being IGNITE, and you wouldn’t want it any other way. With this album, the band have announced a new beginning, and on the evidence of its songs, the future looks brighter than ever for this OC band who’ve once again come out of the blocks with all guns blazing over a set of fiery melodic hardcore anthems.
Rating: 7/10
Ignite is set for release on March 25th via Century Media Records.
Like IGNITE on Facebook.