''Dog's Blood'' is an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...

band

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

. The EP was released on October 31, 2010. ''Dog's Blood'' is a collection of four

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

songs that are different-sounding from the band's previously released material. It was the band's penultimate release before their break up in 2011.

Writing and recording

Work on the ''Dog's Blood'' EP was originally announced in September 2009, shortly after the release of ''

Old Crows/Young Cardinals ''Old Crows / Young Cardinals'' is the fourth studio album from Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, released on June 23, 2009. The album was originally referred to by the shortened title of ''Young Cardinals'', until the name change was an ...

'' in July 2009. By this point, the band had developed a small group of songs; one was an instrumental piece written during the sessions of ''Old Crows/Young Cardinals'', and the rest were written while Alexisonfire was on tour. The title track "Dog's Blood" began as a single

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanim ...

, and later evolved into a full song. Alexisonfire vocalist

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 Grims ...

wrote lyrics that were loosely in the style of

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, C ...

. The title track features guest vocals by Olly Mitchell, the former vocalist of

Johnny Truant Johnny Truant was a British metalcore band, formed in 2000 under the name Severance. The band recorded three demos under this moniker before renaming themselves after one of the main characters of Mark Z. Danielewski's novel '' House of Leaves ...

. The album was recorded and co-produced by Alexisonfire and

Jon Drew Jon Drew is a Canadian record producer and recording engineer based in Toronto, Ontario. He has produced the albums of Polaris Music Prize winning band Fucked Up and Juno Award nominated Tokyo Police Club. He has also worked on the albums of Canad ...

. Though much of the EP was written by September 2009, the band's busy touring schedule delayed recording of ''Dog's Blood'' until mid-late 2010. All of the tracks on ''Dog's Blood'' are songs that the band members felt were too different from their other material to be included on a full-length album.

Release

Prior to the EP's release, Alexisonfire debuted the album's titled track live at the 2010

CASBY Awards The CASBY Awards were a Canadian awards ceremony for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. CASBY is an acronym for Canadian Artists Selected By You. The ...

in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 30, 2010, and a recording of the track was posted online. ''Dog's Blood'' was released through

Dine Alone Records Dine Alone Records is a Canadian and American independent 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 Car ...

on November 23, 2010, though it was distributed internationally on various dates through different labels and also through online music retailers. A vinyl edition of the album was pressed and limited to 2,000 copies in three colors, one color available from the band on tours, one available through the band's webstore, and the third sold in record stores. The artwork was designed by the American artist "Skinner", who was given only the EP's title and the band's name on which to base his design. The artwork was completed prior to the album's recording.

Track listing

Personnel

Alexisonfire *

– screams *

Dallas Green Dallas Green may refer to: * Dallas Green (baseball) (1934–2017), American baseball player and manager * Dallas Green (musician) Dallas Michael John Albert Green (born September 29, 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and record ...

–

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

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung accompaniment, wi ...

Wade MacNeil Wade MacNeil (born May 5, 1984) is a Canadian musician best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He is also the vocalist of the hardcore punk band Gallows, and the vocalist/guitarist/founder o ...

–

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 feature ...

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 u ...

* Chris Steele –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

Jordan Hastings Jordan "Ratbeard" 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 to be a t ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Additional personnel * Olly Mitchell - vocals on "Dog's Blood" * Alexisonfire – production *

Writing and recording

Release

Track listing

Personnel

Release history

References

External links