Alexisonfire Crisis. Release Date : August 22, 2006. Label: Vagrant. Rating: Excellent. (Screw points. To each his own!) That's it, I like Alexisonfire. I'm still occasionally alarmed by the shreddednature of George Pettit's voice, but at the same time, there's soooo much unbridled energy in there, and it's contrasted so amazingly by chorus/background vocals by Dallas Green and Wade MacNeil. You really want to leap frantically around to the uncommonly swift guitars and drums and raging vocals. And I have to say Pettit's squall has grown immensely since the band's first effort. It has a bit of structure to it, it fits the songs and gosh darn it you can actually tell the lyrics sometimes. We all know how awesome Dallas Green's singing voice and musical skill is from his solo stuff, but the City & Colour stuff doesn't pack this sort of ripping plugged in guitar-laden rage. It's a completely different side of things. And You can't deny McNeil's characteristic vocal contribution either. And who the hell is singing at the beginning of "You Burn First"? Is that Pettit? Pulled and stressed Scott Weiland-like vocals open this track. Weird. It's a very un-AOF-ish song. We just got tossed back in time. There's a lot more vocal sharing on this album it seems. "We Are The Sound" has a good solidarity chant in the middle. All told, great energetic disc to kick in some windows and loot some Walmarts too. Damn the man! Song of choice : I really like "This Could Be Anywhere In The World" for all of its voices comingling. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Alexisonfire website Published : January, 2007.