Am vergangenen Freitag haben Ignite ihr neues, selbstbetiteltes Album veröffentlicht (Albumreview). Die Platte markiert das erste Werk mit dem neuen Sänger Eli Santana. In einem Track By Track verrät uns Gitarrist Nik Hill mehr über die neuen Songs.
„Anti complicity anthem“
This track serves as an admission of guilt wrapped up in the motivation to shine a light on the truth as we see it. We know we are all part of the problem, we aren’t the cause or even the mechanism that enforces it. But the shame, the indignity and even the loss of life is on our hands. But we do have a voice, a perspective and although it may be a small, a tight knit community and a platform to inspire and spark interest in the issues we gloss over and let fester. The unrest we feel built this hardcore punk community. Let’s not forget to never let that die.
„The River“
Simply put, there is a major issue in the U.S. between the border to Mexico. The treatment of illegal immigrants and the children caught in the crossfire. It’s a dark and complex story that seems to have no end, and as Southern Californians it’s playing out in our backyard every day.
„This day“
This day is an expression of angst and distrust in our leadership and enforcement of its self serving and systemically racist behavior in our communities. It’s litany of injuries and injustices they have been visited on us and the most vulnerable of our numbers. It’s pissed off, high energy and fills every second of its duration with an urgent message. The oppression and the injustice ends. This day.
„On the ropes“
Feeling the burden and the weight of a rigged financial system betting on you loosing. Day to day life is a struggle for most people, we sacrifice ourselves in service of a hope we never reach. The frustration and anger is directed in an open letter here, to what ever higher power there may be out there. Why? Why all the suffering merely to maintain a losing hand? What is the purpose of an endless struggle? We all want answers.
„The Butcher in me“
This track is a short story based on real life situations we all have with the kind of people in our lives that suck the energy from our very being. We let them in we create a narrative in our own minds about how they’re misunderstood or need another chance and then another and sure enough we find they’ve taken everything they can from us and what we’re left with is a life lesson. This is our mantra for cutting out the toxic elements in our life, whatever they may be. We feed ourselves this aggressive energy back into ourselves and turn it into a positive. That’s the message here.
„Call off the dogs“
We find ourselves in a world betting on us to simply sit back, consume and accept the hand we’re dealt. We spend all our time running a treadmill for the benefit of someone else’s gain, we hold ourselves in high esteem for sacrificing our personal lives our creativity and our imagination for a bigger paycheck. It’s time to unplug from the system we’re hardwired into, if only for a moment and ask why? Why are we doing the all this shit we do day in and day out, are we happy living like this? “Call off the dogs, shoot for the kill” They think we’re hopeless, mindless, plugged in so deep we can’t see out into the world outside this way. Denying your programming pulls you out of a one way track, gives you perspective. Maybe even hope.
„House is burning“
Hero worship is a dangerous thing, I’ll say this much for the message here; we get what we deserve when we elevate and venerate human beings into a god status. We are all flawed and we can all see the way power changes the way we treat the world, the people who made you what you are. Sometimes we need to call power and status down from its place above us and show it life on the ground. We are raising our collective voice, we can see the destruction of our homes, our lives, it’s time to call it like it is.
„Enemy“
We need to address this issue, here in America most certainly. So many people, marginalized by poverty, lack of mental health support and treatment, the very prideful outlook upon our less fortunate that it’s their problem not ours, they just don’t want to to try hard enough. We tried to step into these shoes, see the world from this perspective.
Seeing first hand how heartbroken and scared this man is, he’s lonely and overlooked by us all. He’s the enemy of our greed.
„State of Wisconsin“
This song addresses survivors guilt in the wake of a loss. A friendship a loved one, anything we feel deeply about and turns our world grey in its loss. It’s a hard lesson to learn but we spend most of our youth trying to destroy ourselves to learn how to live. We loose some of along the way. To look with self loathing at yourself, your past is part of life, we want to push it down, to remember only fondly but I feel we need to embrace the blackness as well, to remember the way it really was.
„Let the beggars beg“
Really this our version of telling the modern tragedy. A powerful man, a truly flawed character. The story only ever goes the one way. We hate ourselves when see what we know is wrong reflected back at us in his words and ways. But we can’t get enough, we love the power hungry and ruthless. It’s a societal sickness and wether or not you support it you are a part of it. As it plays out over and over again like a sick joke. But that’s 2022 I guess.
