IGNITE - Call On My Brothers

Artist:  Ignite

Album: Call On My Brothers

Year:  1995

Genre:  Hardcore

Ignite is an enigma to me.  This year marks the release of their 4^th full length album during a 23 year span.  It was 2006 when they delivered their last record…10 YEARS AGO.  Yeah, you read that right; a pace that makes a Nine Inch Nails production rate seem rapid.  Yet, they’re still relevant with fans clamoring for new music from this stalwart group.  Chalk it up to luck, or the fact their albums have a staying power other bands would sell out for in a second, Ignite remains a force in the punk and hardcore world.  To this day I still check out everything they do, not that it’s a difficult task to keep up with them.

The years preceding and following 1995 were interesting for hardcore.  Bands started a strange metamorphosis from the commonplace 80s influence and began expanding on the prevalent, heavier “chugga-chugga” style of the early 90s into something much more sinister.  Bands such as Unbroken, Bloodlet, Mean Season, Morning Again, Negative Male Child, Starkweather and Damnation AD took the genre to a darker place than it had been previously.  Heavier, meaner and with a severe presence of depression and sadness, the music reflected a more metal approach than it did hardcore punk, but, it was highly embraced by hardcore fans everywhere.  In the midst of the doom and gloom, Ignite stood out from the pack by keeping the faith set by bands like Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits and, especially, Uniform Choice.

Only two years old by the time Call On My Brothers was released, Ignite was already a formidable machine churning out excellent songs that focused on velocity, aggression and contagious melodies.  Singer Zoli’s unusual delivery, tone and range gave Ignite a distinguishable sound.  Very few hardcore bands had a singer that could actually sing.  We’re talking about a guy that can even scream in key.  If they did have one of these rare vocalists, they generally toned down the hard edge of the music.  Not Ignite, though.  The music stayed true to their roots and influences.  The sound of Call On My Brothers shows a hungry band blasting and sweating it out with sincerity, conviction and youthful imperfection.  The songs are mostly designed for speed, but they do take a breather at times as they prove they can write effective songs at a slower pace that seem to crescendo into powerful culminations of energy and emotion.  The guitars, bass and drums provide a perfect setting for the politically and socially charged lyrics, hooks and gang vocal sing-a-longs.  If you listen closely, you will realize there is a lot of enthusiastic musicianship flying underneath the punk-hearted chaos. 

This album is nowhere near bulletproof, but it is definitely an upper echelon record in a music period that saw so much true hardcore fading.  Although the quality of their output in the last two decades is dependable, if you compare Call On My Brothers to the album that was released this year, you may question whether you are hearing the same band.  Yes, Zoli can still sing his ass off, but the band now only shows traces of the past glory created on this record.  Everyone has to grow up...right?  Ignite deserve their popularity and the admiration they get for still being a viable band that plays exactly what they want, portrays strong, opinionated lyrical content, consistently tours to the adoration of their fans worldwide and remains politically and socially active and outspoken.  Maybe fans will get another album before their 30^th year together.  In the meantime, pick up Call On My Brothers (and the Past Our Means EP while you’re at it) and (stage)dive into what was once one of the best hardcore bands around.

Listen to "Far Away" here.