By Ignite

Released May 16, 2006

Tracklist

1. Intro (Our Darkest Days)
2. Bleeding
3. Fear Is Our Tradition
4. Let It Burn
5. Poverty For All
6. My Judgment Day
7. Slowdown
8. Save Yourself
9. Are You Listening
10. Three Years
11. Know Your History
12. Strength
13. Sunday Bloody Sunday *
14. Live For Better Days

PunkNews.org

Some people argue that writing a review about a band you love is a conflict of interest; I'm not sure why that would be, after all, the biggest fans are usually the harshest critics, but nonetheless, it should be clear that your humble writer is a fan; not just of their last, TVT release, A Place Called Home, but of their triumphant Revelation-era releases, and even beyond that. Ignite is a band that has managed to write increasingly memorable releases and over a lengthy career, to define themselves as a band of both ethical and music integrity and overwhelming talent, and these are scarce and valuable resources. The band has jumped from label to label, previously landing on TVT in the post-Dookie signing frenzy and being overlooked by a label without the capacity to understand their music; thankfully, the recent signing to upstart hardcore/rock label Abacus seems as good a place as any for them because Ignite is -- despite Zoli's operatic range and the band's technical proficiency -- a passionate hardcore band, and one of a the best around. The album opens with a one-minute intro, something that can be a little unnecessary but works rather well as a lead-in to “Bleeding,” a track that manages to thoughtfully attack one of the dominant themes of the album: fear and freedom. Accompanied by full gang vocals, Zoli tackles the issue with a lyrical nuance and restraint not usually expected from this music. The second track, “Fear Is Our Tradition” continues to look at the subject matter, and acts as a real showcase for Zoli's talents, with intricately layered vocal harmonies and the other “theme” of the record: hooks. Ignite may be an angry, powerful band, but they want you singing along. Interestingly, the band's opening few tracks are more mid-tempo, while the band hits full speed for the second half; the positively ripping “Are You Listening?” takes a few seconds to get going, but when it does, it's not just relentlessly catchy, but a showcase for the incredible amount of musical talent throughout this band. The next track, “Three Years” actually had my jaw drop at one point, when Zoli really stretches his range and while I can't imagine he's going to be signing it live, the bridge in the track is quite spectacular. The most “traditional” Ignite track is perhaps, “Know Your History,” which -- aside from Cameron Webb's production -- could have appeared on the best of the band's Revelation catalog; just straightforward, fast, metal-free hardcore. The final two tracks on the album may be a surprise to some, the first: a tasteful and aggressive cover of U2's “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which is a live favorite and for good reason. The last is the risky, but occaisonally great acoustic closer; while Zoli occaisonally sounds like a slightly more adept Eddie Vedder, the track works in the context of the album. After tracks that consistently up the ante for speed and vitriol, the hopeful closer acts as a nice bookend to the album and resonates even after the CD stops spinning. Was it not for the earnestness of the performance and the integrity of the band, it might not have worked, but as expected, Ignite pulls it off. With Our Darkest Days, Ignite has ended a nearly six-year absence from recording, and has delivered a record worthy of the wait. This is hardcore and it is great. 4.5/5

Metal-Observer.com

There was not much going around IGNITE in the last years but now they are back and if you always liked this exceptional band, you will also love their new masterpiece. So if you adored works like “Call On My Brothers”, “In My Time” or the followers “Past Out Means” and “A Place Called Home”, you have to have “Our Darkest Days”, too. One could also easily say that only few bands managed it to create records with such an amount of high class ear-candies. IGNITE were always famous for their mixture of melodic Hardcore, Rock and Punk and “Our Darkest Days” is another unmatchable masterpiece. The unique quintet from Orange County is still a class for its own. Their music is amazing and it is completed by the moving and distinctive vocals of the Hungarian Zoli Teglas; these are the basic elements for IGNITE, which are a ten years long guarantee for highly intelligent stuff. This is not only limited to the music itself, it also affects their dedicated and politically influenced lyrics. And there’s another element, which makes this band that irresistible and important as well: IGNITE stood always true to their roots and their new album comes up with absolutely no hint of being commercially. Of course, “Our Darkest Days” is highly melodic and quite accessible but it’s always natural and never trendy. Don’t worry, heaviness and power are always given but they luckily don’t find it necessary to interrupt the music by breakdowns or mosh parts. Their way is different and it works fine and if you always wanted to know if one can simultaneously bang your head and sing along to a song, you will find the answer short after the intro. “Bleeding” is then the starter of this series of catchy tunes, “Fear Is Our Tradition” follows in the same direction and the album delivers more of such highlights in form of the hit “Let It Burn” or the up bea t “Poverty For All”. Another advantage of them is that they keep their songs mostly under the three minutes mark. IGNITE come always straight to the point and there’s no neverending repeating of melodies. So why lengthen a song up to five minutes or more when creating the best effect with such shortness. Hats off! But the journey goes on and the number of highlights won’t end; there comes “My Judgement Day” or “Slowdown”, which is a murderously catchy song. The speed grenade “Save Yourself”, “Are You Listening” or “Three Years” keep the tension high and intensity and joy are always present. “Know Your Enemy” and “Strength” are no exceptions, of course. A nice bonus comes with the U2 cover song “Sunday Bloody Sunday”; a well often covered song but these guys do it the best. Last but least, closing “Live For Better Days” comes around with some acoustic guitars and a female voice until Zoli Teglas starts to sing in his mother tongue. This is a gorgeous final and a strong contrast to the other songs. And if you’re a bit confused after all this, you should better press the repeat button and travel again through the darkest days of IGNITE. But be assured, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and as dark the days may be, this album makes the sun shine the whole day. Of course, the sound production is top notch as well and with Cameron Webb (e.g. MOTÖRHEAD, SOCIAL DISTORTION, SUM 41 or SILVERSTEIN), they engaged a genius as producer. After all, I can only give the highest rating, there’s no other possibility. Still having questions? 10/10

PastePunk.com

Exhilarating. In one word, Our Darkest Days is simply exhilarating. With six years between full-length albums, an eternity by hardcore standards, IGNITE makes up for lost time in a hurry on this fourteen song outing. As one of the few truly global hardcore bands, IGNITE haven’t exactly been idly twiddling their thumbs over the past half-decade, choosing rather to tour Europe and South America often, where the band draws crowds in the thousands at nearly every show. With IGNITE's ill-fated days on TVT Records (at least in the U.S.) behind them, Our Darkest Days marks a rebirth of sorts, including a new record deal with Century Media/Abacus Recordings (vinyl on Think Fast! Records), that finally gives the band the unified worldwide platform that they have so long been seeking. IGNITE are a fascinating band for a number of reasons, the most obvious being the incredible presence of lead vocalist Zoli Teglas, owner of the best voice in hardcore. Not only can Teglas absolutely wail, no one merges vocal aggression, melody, and command better than him, and it’s been that way practically since the band released their first full-length, Call On My Brothers in 1995. Teglas is a special force – his vocals are instantly memorable, and catchy doesn’t even describe half of the matter. In the same way that BAD RELIGION’s Greg Graffin or GOOD RIDDANCE’s Russ Rankin rule with an omnipresent lead, Teglas is always front and center. As IGNITE are oft to mention, the band is determined to carry forth the torch of Orange County hardcore in the manner that was set forth by genre-groundbreakers UNITY and UNIFORM CHOICE, though by now, it can safely be said that IGNITE really only sounds like themselves. The songwriting formula here is pretty simple in theory – racing tempos, supercharged guitars and bass, and sing-along out loud vocals. This is metal-free hardcore and the closest thing you’ll get to a breakdown is a brief pause before an ensuing finger-point fiesta. Our Darkest Days surges with the pissed-off opener “Bleeding” (only Teglas can work the name “Halliburton” so gracefully into lyrics and keep it tuneful) and then brings the house down, on only the third track “Fear Is Our Tradition” with a staggering blast of towering rhythms and an unreal chorus and multi-tracked backing vocals. For the first twelve songs on this album, IGNITE is boiling hot. With serious but not overbearing lyrics, and with a positive message always lurking somewhere, the band skillfully discusses the perils and tragic nature of drunk-driving (“Let It Burn”); a political administration with a 'shoot first, ask questions later' attitude ("Bleeding"); and a surprising focus on Teglas’ Hungarian background, with the mesmerizing songs “Poverty for All” (excorciating 50 years of socialist rule) and “Know Your History,” the latter of which possesses a frightening amount of pure adrenaline. The tag-team of “Save Yourself” and “Are You Listening,” respectively, is roughly three minutes of go-for-broke catharsis. The gang vocals in the “Listening” will have you screaming, “I’M SORRY… YOU’RE NOT THE ONE” until your throat bleeds. It’s not until the final two tracks - a freshly recorded cover of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (a song the band previously covered for a European release a number of years ago), and the acoustic “Live For Better Days,” that IGNITE’s tremendous racket comes to a cool. While Our Darkest Days doesn’t see the band depart terribly much from their previous recordings, the band is far more flashy in its rhythm section than on 2000’s A Place Called Home. Drummer Craig Anderson is practically a machine on this album, especially on the unique beats that drive “Poverty For All,” and the dramatic bridge that fuels the epic sing-along in “Save Yourself.” I’ve cherished listening to IGNITE over the years because in blunt terms, this band gets me pumped. More than just the sonically brilliant sound that the band has weaved repeatedly, their dedicated focus to socially relevant and personally inspiring lyrics solidifies the group’s purpose and conviction. IGNITE are an elite and enthused hardcore band and Our Darkest Days satisfies beyond the most extravagant of expectations.

PunkBands.com

Years ago (too many to think about) a punk rock compilation landed in my hands and launched an obsession. Cinema Beer Nuts was the title, and though I ended up purchasing many of the records by many of the bands, Ignite was not one of them. Today I am kicking myself. So hard. If only I had purchased the Past Our Means EP then this would be a glorious recounting of Ignite’s noble career. Instead, this is a holy fuck! I’ve been sleeping on this band for no good reason! Our Darkest Days is the best album so far in 2006, and I feel like I should have seen it coming since I was 13.   From the building and swelling of Intro (Our Darkest Days), Ignite lets melodic hardcore ring out with passion and sincerity. Zoli Teglas’ voice resounds with an intimacy and a vulnerability that may surprise, seeing as it has been six years since he last put it to tape. Zoli’s voice engages, but it his lyrics that ensnare. I didn’t get a lyric sheet, but at one point in Fear Is Our Tradition we start getting into the details of Russian history. An overwhelming desire to understand permeates the album, a desire to improve, and a genuineness that makes it all so beautiful. Cheap gimmicks? None. There’s just no time for them when a band has this much to say.   Ignite remains political and inspirational and always strikes the perfect balances between melody and rhythm, high-pitched singing and gruff backing vocals, endearing personal songs with great lyrics “Budapest, Los Angeles/ I drank a river to forget,” and evocative songs with great lyrics, “Lead the boys off to war just to throw them away.”  The second quote is from an amazing song called Bleeding, and if there was an ounce of justice in this world, that would be the song of the summer, not AFI’s craptacular Miss Murder which seems destined for the title. Our Darkest Days is the album that AFI always should have made, but never did: beautiful and nuanced but without sacrificing the hard edge which drew so many to them in their early incarnations.   Complaints? Well, lacking the booklet gives me no room to critique the art so I’ll have to stick with criticizing U2. Ignite covers U2, a band I hate, and the choose to cover Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song that Evergreen Terrace covers on every single release they put out, and that frankly, I am just sick of. Luckily, that’s not the last track on the album so the bad taste doesn’t remain in your mouth for too long. Our Darkest Days closes out with a terrific rousing acoustic song Live For Better Days, which in turn fades out into erethral singing and finally Zoli singing a dirge in what I can only assume is Hungarian.   This record is amazing start to finish: no easy feat considering just how much is packed into each of the fourteen songs. A must buy. 5/5

StereoKiller.com

The first thing I have to say about this record is simply "wow". Zoli Teglas has a set of chords on him that can be outdone by no other vocalists in hardcore past or present as far as I am concerned. His range is absolutely amazing as always and there is no debate about that after his performance on this album. From the minute the it starts with the Intro you can tell the band has returned with their unique brand of politically charged hardcore punk. A practically seamless transition into the first track and it is on its way. Not once in my opinion does this disc lose its hold in anyway. Standout tracks such as "Bleeding," "Poverty For All," "Save Yourself," and my personal favourite a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," (although many bands have beaten this song to death, I am rather pleased with the way it came out.) prove that the bands long awaited return has not been in vain, they have not lost any steam. The songwriting is solid, although it is not overtly technical and anything that hasn't been done before it still spotlights the bands talent to stand as leaders in the forefront of their genre. Melodic, energetic and genuine I strongly recommend any previous fans of this band or anyone new to the genre pick up this disc. You can stream it online in its entirety.