''Old Crows / Young Cardinals'' is the fourth studio album from Canadian

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike. "", Canadian Online Explorer, CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are Georg ...

, released on June 23, 2009. The album was originally referred to by the shortened title of ''Young Cardinals'', until the name change was announced on April 1, 2009.

Background

Following the release of ''Crisis'', the members kept themselves busy with other projects: vocalist Dallas Green with his other band City and Colour; guitarist Wade McNeil with

Black Lungs Black Lungs is a Canadian punk rock band, formed by Alexisonfire guitarist and vocalist and Gallows (band), Gallows vocalist Wade MacNeil. MacNeil originally envisioned the project's music as similar to his first punk rock band, Plan 9.. ''Char ...

; and vocalist George Pettit performing with

Fucked Up Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of guitarists Mike Haliechuk and Josh Zucker, bassist Sandy Miranda, lead vocalist Damian Abraham and drummer Jonah Falco. From 2007 to 2021, t ...

and Bergenfield Four. In October and November 2008, the band toured Europe as part of The Eastpak Antidote Tour. In December, it was revealed that the band would be recording their next album in 2009. McNeil said the record would be "fucking heavy."

Recording

In an interview in January 2009,

Wade MacNeil Wade Gordon MacNeil (born May 5, 1984) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, composer, and former radio personality. He is best known as one of the guitarists and vocalists of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He has also provided guitars and ...

and band manager Joel Carriere confirmed that they have 10 songs ready for

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, one of which being "Emerald St." (given full title "Emerald Street" on the album). The band announced they would begin recording on February 1, 2009, documenting the process as it happened on their internet

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, with MacNeil stating that "For the first time ever we have too many songs". Recording took place in

Armoury Studios Armoury Studios is a Canadian recording studio located in Vancouver, British Columbia's Kitsilano neighbourhood. History The Armoury building was constructed, from the ground up, in 1990 by Canadian songwriter/producer Jim Vallance. Vallance co ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, working with engineer Nick Blagona (who has previously worked with

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

and

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

, as well as the band's 2006 album, ''

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

''). One week later, Dallas Green announced that the band had already completed seven songs, including "Midnight Regulations", and "probably 8 by the time we finish up". By March 1, 2009, the band announced in their studio blog that they had "drums, bass and most of the guitars completed", and had "now moved on to

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

s and

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

s". Later the same week, MacNeil announced that work on the album in Vancouver had been completed, with the exception of Green's

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

parts. Upon returning from Vancouver, further recording took place at Silo Studios in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, the same location used on the band's 2004 album '' Watch Out!'' and some parts of ''

''. Here, the band co-produced with Julius Butty, who had also worked on the band's previous two albums. Mastering of the album was completed on April 8, 2009, by Brett Zilahi at João Carvalho Mastering.

Release

On April 8, 2009, ''Old Crows / Young Cardinals'' was announced for release later in the year. On April 22, 2009, "Young Cardinals" was made available for streaming. On May 18, 2009, a music video was released for "Young Cardinals"; it had been filmed in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

. On June 2, 2009, "No Rest" was posted online. During the same month, the band played a handful of European festivals, leading up to an appearance at the

Edgefest Edgefest was an annual outdoor rock festival in Canada. It was founded by staff members of Toronto radio station CFNY-FM. From 1987 to 2015, the festival was held every year in the summer (except for 2007). The festival was most frequently held ...

in Canada. ''Old Crows / Young Cardinals'' was released on June 23. The album was released on

Dine Alone Records Dine Alone Records is a Canadian and American record label, founded in St. Catharines and Toronto by Joel Carriere. The label is now based in Toronto, Nashville and Los Angeles. History Dine Alone was born out of founder Joel Carriere's home ...

, an independent label founded by the band's manager Joel Carriere. It was mark the first time the band have not released through

Distort Entertainment Distort Entertainment is a Canadian independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario. The label specializes in bands performing hardcore punk-derived music, including Alexisonfire, Cancer Bats and Johnny Truant, but its sister division Distort L ...

in Canada. Dine Alone released the disc in Canada, Australia and South Africa, while the album will be released in the United States by

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock music, rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk music, folk, soul music, so ...

. Between late June and late August, the band performed on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

. An EP was released, featuring "Two Sisters" and "Wayfarer Youth", on July 14, 2009 through Dine Alone Records. Shortly after this, they appeared at the

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

in the UK. They co-headlined the Eastpak Antidote Tour, which trekked across Europe, with

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag was an American punk rock band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1988. The band was known for its left-wing politics, left-wing political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included Justin Sane (voc ...

; they were supported by

the Ghost of a Thousand The Ghost of a Thousand were an English punk rock band from Brighton. Career The Ghost of a Thousand formed in the Winter of 2004 in Brighton and began touring extensively, playing alongside Blood Red Shoes, Poison the Well, This is Hell, G ...

and the Fall of Troy. On January 29, 2010, a music video was released for "The Northern". In February and March 2010, the band performed at Soundwave festival in Australia. On March 3, Dine Alone released ''Old Crows/Young Cardinals'' on coloured vinyl discs. After the initial run, a standard black pressing will replace it. The initial run contains the following French quote across all four sides of the album in the deadwax: ''Et ses mains ourdiraient/Les entrailles du prêtre/Au défaut d'un cordon/Pour étrangler les rois''. It is a quote from philosopher

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...

's poem ''Les Éleuthéromanes'', translated to: ''And his hands would plait the priest's entrails, for want of a rope, to strangle kings''. More succinctly, it has been taken to mean, "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." Following this, the band went on a Canadian tour with

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band, formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

and

Gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

. In April and May 2010, the band went on a cross-country US tour with support from

Trash Talk Trash talk is a form of spoken insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their ability to wi ...

Therefore I Am Therefore I Am was an American post-hardcore band formed in Boston in May 2004. After recording two independent extended plays, they signed to Epitaph Records in 2005 and later to Equal Vision Records in 2008, on which they recorded one full-l ...

and La Dispute. In June 2010, Alexisonfire performed at Petite-Nation Rockfest.

Reception

''Old Crows / Young Cardinals'' was met with generally favourable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 69, based on five reviews. The album debuted at #81 on the Billboard 200, making this Alexisonfire's highest-charting album in the US to date. Billboard.com/ref>

Track listing

Personnel

Alexisonfire *

George Pettit George Frederick Douglas Pettit (born October 2, 1982) is a Canadian musician best known as the lead vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He is also currently active as the vocalist of Dead Tired. Biography Pettit grew up in Grim ...

–

unclean vocals Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera. Particularly famous examples of extended vocal techniq ...

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

* Dallas Green –

clean vocals Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music Al ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Chris Steele –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Jordan Hastings Jordan "Ratbeard" Michael Hastings (born March 15, 1982) is a Canadian musician born in Hamilton, Ontario. He is best known as the drummer of Alexisonfire, having replaced their former drummer Jesse Ingelevics. Hastings was originally intended t ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Production * Produced by Julius Butty and Alexisonfire * Engineered by Nick Blagona * Assistant engineering by Rob Stefenson (Vancouver, BC) and Marco Brasette (Hamilton, ON) * Mixed by Julius Butty at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph (band), Triumph. Since 1978, Metalworks Studios has expanded into a six studio facility ...

* Mixing Assistant by Kevin Dietz * Pre-production by Nicholas Osczypko * Mastered by Brett Zilahi at Joao Carvalho Mastering Art * Art direction by Alexisonfire * Paintings, collage and design by Paul Jackson * Layout by Paul Jackson; assisted by Justin Ellsworth * Typed by Tricia Ricciuto; assisted by Scott Rémila

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Old Crows/Young Cardinals on VagrantAlexisonfire official websiteAlexisonfire in the studio blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Crows Young Cardinals 2009 albums Alexisonfire albums Dine Alone Records albums Hassle Records albums Albums recorded at Armoury Studios