Review IGNITE ‘Ignite’

Ignite, based in Orange County, CA, started in 1993, founded by Brett Rasmussen and Joe D. Foster. While the band released their first three longplayers on regular base, the gap between ‘Call on My Brothers’ and ‘A Place Called Home’ added up to five years and the newest albums didn’t hit the shelves much faster.

The pause between ‘A War Against You’ and the new self-titled album took six years. A major impact for such a long album-less gap was the search for a new voice after Zoli Téglás left the band 2000. After having found with Eli Santana an excellent new singer, Ignite continue their journey though impactful music. The onboarding of Santana wasn’t something to be expected since the singer is known as guitarist in bands like Huntress. Still a vocal talent can’t be denied and what Santana delivers on ‘Ignite’ is excellent, from singing to shouts.

Inspired and motivated by daily craziness when it comes to politics and society, Ignite went back to their early hardcore-driven days and combined them with the spirit of the latest studio effort. The outcome is a powerful record with songs that have much to tell.

Ignite starts loud and hearable into the new album. ‘Anti-Complicity Anthem’ is a powerful start with hardcore-influences and a very solid melody. The song is a statement against to complicity of modern life and the connected shame and indignity that comes with it. Next in line is ‘This Day’, a blistering song that starts with a grooving bassline.

The band surf through the tracklist with confidence and passion. 35 minutes of well-crafted California-hardcore is what gets out of the speakers, with ‘Call Off the Dogs’ and darker ‘Enemy’ being highlights on the album.

Also to mention is ‘Let the Beggars Beg’. With four minutes, the song outruns the other tracks on the album. Ignite reduce pace while keeping the musical hardness. The song isn’t the most straight-ahead one on the album and therefor needs a few rounds to unfold some second-line details.

It took a while before Ignite added a new album to their discography. It was worth the wait since the effort is rewarding fans with excellent melodic hardcore songs that allow a good pit. ‘Ignite’ finds the sweet spot of heaviness, melody and message. This album entertains with style.