I Ignite – ‘These Lessons Learned’.
I Ignite – Long Island, New York, USA.
To Long Island now for the latest from I Ignite, a band slogging it out since 2014 via their mix of Nu-Metal appreciating early 2000’s Post-Hardcore and Melodic Hardcore hybridised in style with Pop-Punk, Emo and general melodic riff-fery.
In short, to encourage you to look into the band’s back catalogue after you’ve got to grips with my own getting to grips with I Ignite’s latest, if melodic and emotive music rooted in Punk and Hardcore is something you require to assist you through the slog of life, I Ignite can help with that.
‘Thank You’ begins ‘These Lessons Learned’ with a very telling sombre plucking, thoughtful as it prepares to unleash its catharsis. Classic Melodic Hardcore follows before rumbling Easycore a via those classics from A Day To Remember or Four Year Strong permeates the verses before a crooning chorus expectedly does its bit. This is indeed nothing new, but it is admittedly very well executed and addictive.
The band’s evolution has seen them move away from their more straight-forward driven melodic sound in favour of both harder riff orientated and slightly metallic Post-Hardcore and larger Pop-Punk/Emo based vocals, on the whole allowing their sound to envelop the listener and make itself know far more readily. The standout ‘Frenemy’ is very much classically thus.
‘Preacher’ teases you with mid-2000’s Metalcore alongside an opening verse not far from mid-career letlive. I Ignite endeavour to include as much in the way of their inspirations as they can but at times it can feel somewhat convoluted within the context of the release and this is ironically so in the placement of ‘Preacher’. ‘Preacher’ is a relatively new to the flow of the EP and there is nothing so much wrong with it sonically I might add, more in its arbitrary placement and again relatively solo ground.
‘The Life I Live’ features GutterLIFE frontman Matthew Van Rossem who adds his signature vocal rage in another jagged Pop-Punk/Easycore rumble that talks of pulling yourself out of a dark place in this very positive track. On that note, if you are unaware of GutterLIFE, you should certainly remedy that as their latest record both objectively and subjectively hits all the Punk and Hardcore spots you need scratching.
I digress, ‘The Life I Live’ boasts some of the best of the release and particularly so in its classic melodic guitars taking you back to those ear-wormy Pop-Punk gems of the past before it leads to the departure (again) that is ‘Bonds We Break’.
Now, admittedly, this penultimate track does take some of the criticism away from the stark contrast of ‘Preacher’ as the band’s heavier influences and particular Metalcore inclinations settle a little easier and prompt questions of which route the band will now take.
‘Pick Myself Up’ closes an EP over heavy riffs and far reaching melodies from a band trying to bridge as many tastes as they can you can’t help but respect that for although treading precarious ground, the band indeed in the end pull it off.
Find Them:
- Social Media/Updates: Facebook.
- Music: Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, Google Play.
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