Shihad - Ignite

Fri 3rd Dec, 2010 in Music Reviews

New Zealand rock group Shihad’s eight album, Ignite, is a huge departure from the 2008’s Beautiful Machine. Whereas Beautiful Machine was could be somewhat described as a ‘dance’ album, the latest release Ignite is raw and mature, giving scope to Shihads music.

The album kicks off with grungy guitar, and vocalist Jon Toogood’s wailing, throughout The Final Year Of The Universe, a six minute long epic that well and truly welcomes Shihad back._ Much of the album retains this same sound and the synths heard throughout the last release, Beautiful Machine, have found their way onto Ignite, most notably on In The Future.

Lead single Sleepeater stands out completely from the first half of the album, being heavy, raw and incredibly catchy. The only downside is that Toogood’s vocals are at moments, slightly drowned out by the instrumentals of the song. Title track Ignite has a surprisingly slower pace than anything else on the album. It sounds like pop rock ballad, and once again uses the synths to back the track. But just when you think it’s all slow from here, Engage erupts with a ferocity of 100 miles an hour, kicking Shihads vehicle back into top gear. Nemesis has an opening riff reminiscent of The Living End in more than one way, but along with highlight track Cold Heart, it closes the album with an almighty bang. The albums pace slows throughout the middle, but has built towards a crescendo of rock that should not be missed.

Ignite is in many ways, both a step back and a step forward for Shihad. After Beautiful Machine, they have looked at what has worked and what hasn’t, and constructed an album to please the fans, themselves and the live music audience, evident at recent shows when Shihad decided to perform The General Electric and Killjoy in full. The feel and atmospheric sound of those albums has been transposed into Ignite.

Even after a seven albums and becoming NZ Music Hall of Fame inductees, it’s great to see and hear, that Shihad are stilling firing away and hitting all the right targets.