Review Summary: Quite possibly the last thing we will ever hear from Alexisonfire
Home to some of Alexisonfire's heaviest material,
Dog's Blood is an interesting addition to their discography. Unfortunately, whether it was his choice or not, Dallas Green's vocals have pretty much been neutered from this release, except for the end of "Dog's Blood." George is back to his screaming vocals, unlike the last release (Old Crows/Young Cardinals) where he used a more raspy/gruff singing voice, but he doesn't drop the vocals style completely, though. It's kind of a cool mix between the two.
"Dog's Blood" is more along the lines of their post hardcore roots (Crisis and Watch Out!) with a more experimental side with a lot of instrumental breaks. The song is fairly long, hitting in at close to 6 minutes, but it doesn't really drag and has a nice bridge where Dallas plays a small part and graces us with his singing voice. Then he and George go back and forth with screaming and singing just like the good old days. The song itself reminded me a little of "Accidents" off of Watch Out!, but more expanded. "Grey" is a slower song that plays out nicely vibing along the lines of "Rough Hands" and "The Northern." "Black as Jet" is a very upbeat song that drops the vocals around the 1:30 mark and then proceeds to play out until nicely fading into the excellent instrumental track, "Vex."
"Vex" is the highlight of the EP. It's a mid-tempo track with some really nice lead guitar parts that surprisingly doesn't wear out its welcome, clocking in at 6 minutes. It's definitely something new for the guys, and I would have loved to have seen what the next full length album would have been, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
