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Both bands announced the concert today on social media, along with another one in Montreal, Canada. The UK night is going to be held at at the OVO Wembley Arena in London on the 24th of June, with Alexisonfire playing ‘Crisis’ and Billy Talent playing ‘II’ in full, to what will certainly be a maximum capacity crowd of 12,500.

Both bands were founded in the Ontario province in Canada, with Billy Talent being the older group, having formed in 1991 under the name Pezz. Though they released three self-titled albums after renaming, ‘Billy Talent II’ was their best remembered and received the best scores from review sites. Packed full of angst, it walked the line between anthemic rock and rebellious punk, not quite pigeonholing itself into either. Singles like ‘Fallen Leaves’, ‘Red Flag’ and ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’ were a hit with rock radio stations, and the band earned themselves a Juno Award for best rock album, one of Canada’s most prestigious prizes.

Alexisonfire formed later in 2001, but following on from strong second album ‘Watch Out!’ in 2004 led them to a defining album in the rock and hardcore scene in ‘Crisis’. Sometimes described as “pop screamo”, their sound was a mixture of hardcore punk with George Pettit’s harsh vocals, and very raw emotional rock built around Dallas Green’s hauntingly beautiful singing. The singles ‘Boiled Frogs’ and ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’ are still hugely popular today, with the album being cited as inspiration to many of the Canadian scene’s later albums by artists like Cancer Bats and Silverstein.

Both albums reached number one in Canada’s Album Chart and became a large part of each band’s legacy. Fittingly, Liam Cormier of Cancer Bats was quoted in a now-deleted article as saying “everyone will always remember Alexisonfire and Billy Talent as the two bands that brought heavy music to the forefront and broke that scene wide open in this country.” Also rather appropriately, both bands released their last albums in 2022, and both are currently in the studio writing new music, with Alexisonfire only documenting their recording sessions earlier this week.

In a post on Instagram, Alexisonfire stated that the tour will feature both albums played front-to-back, with the headliner alternating – they will headline London while Billy Talent will play last in Montreal. US post-hardcore stars Touché Amoré will be opening the evening at the Wembley Arena. Pre-sale starts tomorrow at 10AM, general sale follows this Friday also at 10AM, with both Alexisonfire and Billy Talent providing ticket links and passwords on their Instagram posts. Alexisonfire will also be performing ‘Crisis’ in full when they headline the Saturday at this year’s Outbreak Fest, which runs from the 26th to the 28th of June at Manchester’s B.E.C Arena.

UK & EU SHOWS

We’re bringing the ‘OTHERNESS’ tour to the UK & Europe and new pals @bstnmnr are coming with us.

on sale 1 JUNE at 10AM BST / 11AM CEST ➣ https://t.co/8v7va0jkuE for info pic.twitter.com/WNtN34U2dH

— ALEXISONFIRE (@aof_official) May 30, 2022

Alexisonfire, for those who aren’t in the know, recently announced their first album in thirteen years, titled Otherness. Thus far, the Canadian quintet has released three singles; “Sweet Dreams of Otherness”, “Reverse the Curse” and “Sans Soleil”, all displaying different dimensions of the band’s musical approach, and also clearly demonstrating that their sound has matured along with them. Whilst still recognisably Alexisonfire, the band is not making any attempt to become a cover band of their past-selves or recreate the sound of Crisis or Old Crows/Young Cardinals.

According to NME, frontman George Pettit stated that the part of the band’s choice to return with new music was partly because they “didn’t want to be a nostalgia act” going on to say “The only reason to come back is if we feel we still have something to say…We spent so much time on the road thinking that if we stopped, people would lose interest…But when we went away, it only got bigger. We all carved new paths for ourselves, so coming back to Alexisonfire is a purely enjoyable creative venture. Something special happens when we get in a room together.”

You can check out the thunderous lead single from the album “Sweet Dreams of Otherness” down below. You can pre-order the forthcoming record here, and physical releases, including a Gatefold 12” vinyl LP, can be pre-ordered at this link.

Alexisonfire released their first new music in nine years in 2019, putting out three singles; “Familiar Drugs”, “Season of the Flood” and “Complicit”, however the group did not announce any full-length releases or E.Ps at the time. The five-piece originally broke up in 2012, however they reunited in 2015 for a string of shows, which eventually progressed into a fully-fledged reunion, leading them to where they are right now.

You can view the dates for Alexisonfire’s forthcoming tour down below.

14/10/2022 – Great Hall- Cardiff
16/10 – Academy- Manchester
17/10 – Barrowland Ballroom- Glasgow
19/10 – Academy- Leeds
20/10 – Dome- Brighton
22/10- O2 Academy Brixton- London
24/10- Trix- Antwerp, Belgium
26/10 – Columbiahalle-Berlin, Germany
27/10 – Tonhalle- Munich, Germany
29/10 – Zeltphilharmonie- Hamburg, Germany
31/10 – Palladium- Cologne, Germany
01/11- Tivoli- Utrecht, Netherlands

“Sans Soleil” is the third single from the upcoming album, having been preceded by “Reverse the Curse” and lead single “Sweet Dreams of Otherness”. The emotive tune is led by singer and guitarist Dallas Green, filled to the brim with soaring melodic passages and ethereal harmonies that swirl amidst a tidal wave of glassy synths and grimy guitars. Frontman George Pettit takes a backseat in this one, however his familiar snarl can be heard around the 3:30 mark, providing a suitably shouty backing to Green’s tuneful howling.

Explaining the writing process of the song ina n interview with NME, Pettit said: “Wade came in with the lyrics for this song around the same time he had been working on the Dooms Children record and I feel like it shows. The Dooms Children album touched on a lot of things extremely personal to Wade and this song is definitely in that vein…This song is about hanging onto hope during the heaviest times. Healing and letting go. Dreaming of a future where all this hurt is behind you.”

You can listen to “Sans Soleil” down below.

Otherness will be the Ontario band’s first full-length album in thirteen years, their last being 2009’s Old Crows/Young Cardinals. The band broke up in 2012 for a short period of time, reuniting for a series of shows in 2015, at the time stating that they had no concrete plans to stay together. However, as time went by, the group made more live appearances, and in 2019 and early 2020, released three singles, “Familiar Drugs”, “Complicit” and “Season of the Flood”.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to plenty of musical endeavours in 2020 and 2021, and there was little else other than radio silence from Alexisonfire during this time, however their grand return came in early March, when they unveiled their new single and upcoming album.

Alexisonfire have a packed touring schedule ahead of them this year, and are currently on tour in North America. For any UK fans eager to catch Alexisonfire live on their own turf, the group will be performing at Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds and Hatfield on June 3^rd and 4^th. More information about Slam Dunk, including tickets, can be found here.

“Sweet Dreams of Otherness” is a song that truly sounds like the logical next step for a band like Alexisonfire. The bombastic quintet have always known how to switch up from record to record, maturing their sound as they age, and this heavy, smoky new tune is no different. Guitarist and singer Dallas Green’s soulful voice is on full display here, ranging from moody and restrained to rich, gale-force high notes. Vocalist George Pettit’s iconic rasping growl grants the song a more ferocious edge over the distortion and near-psychedelic feedback din that storms on in the background.

The announcement of Otherness is momentous news indeed for fans of the Ontario band, whose last full-length album Old Crows/Young Cardinals was released all the way back in 2009. The band’s last (thankfully temporary) hurrah of original music was the 2010 Dog’s Blood EP, before they announced in late 2011 that they were splitting up. The band embarked on a multi-country farewell tour and released the Death Letter EP in 2012, which was a reimagining of several songs from their discography.

The band’s split did not last long at all, and by 2015, the group announced a reunion tour, making appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Riot Fest in Chicago and Heavy Montreal. At the time, Alexisonfire did not seem to have any concrete plans to stay together, however the group went on to play shows in the following years, and in 2019, released their first new music since 2010; the sludgy, explosive single “Familiar Drugs”. This was followed up by two more singles, “Complicit” and “Season of the Flood”, before the COVID-19 pandemic swooped in and pulled everything to a halt for a while.

A full track list for Otherness can be viewed below.

1). ‘Committed To The Con’
2). ‘Sweet Dreams Of Otherness
3). ‘Sans Soleil’
4). ‘Conditional Love’
5). Blue Spade’
6). Dark Night Of The Soul
7). ‘Mistaken Information
8). ‘Survivor’s Guilt
9). ‘Reverse The Curse
10). ‘World Stops Turning’

For any UK fans wishing to catch the band live in the coming months, Alexisonfire will be headlining Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds and Hatfield Park. Tickets can be found here.

NEW YEAR, NEW BANDS!

We are very excited to inform you that @NeckDeepUK are your 4th and final festival headliner!

Also joining us are @cancerbats, @bronxovision, @thesummerset, @PointNorthBand, @momjeansca and @AsDecemberFalls!https://t.co/hb3406ieze pic.twitter.com/5cPE1PVM1z

— Slam Dunk Festival (@SlamDunkMusic) January 14, 2022

The festival suffered the same fate as all of its counterparts in 2020, however was one of the lucky ones in 2021; although dates were rescheduled from June to September, both Slam Dunk North and Slam Dunk South were able to go forward, featuring headliners such as Don Broco, NOFX, While She Sleeps and Don Broco.

As you can observe from the poster, the festival boasts an extremely exciting line-up this year. Sum 41, who were unable to attend the rescheduled 2021 festival, will be present, and are accompanied by UK pop punk titans Neck Deep, Celtic rockers Dropkick Murphys, and Canadian post-hardcore legends Alexisonfire. The line-up is an absolute dream come true for avid pop punk fans, as there will also be performances by The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck, Motion City Soundtrack and Pennywise.

Alexisonfire are not the only throwback outfit on the bill either; Canadian post-hardcore outfit Silverstein will be performing, having had their 20^th anniversary in 2020, along with The Used and American ska punk band The Might Mighty Bosstones. Another group who are a truly special (albeit a little niche) addition to the line-up is Hot Water Music, a post-hardcore/punk rock band that formed in the early 1990s.

There are also a fair few heavier bands billed, such as Canadian hardcore punk outfit Cancer Bats, Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction, and German metalcore outfit Eskimo Callboy.

Slam Dunk Festival, associated with Slam Dunk Records, was formed in 2006 on a small-scale basis and was held at Millenium Square in Leeds, before being moved to the University of Leeds’ student union. Despite only being able to host a few artists in its early days, the festival still attracted a great deal of popular acts; for example Fall Out Boy headlined in 2006, and were accompanied by now legendary post-hardcore band Thursday. Later years saw the appearance of acts such as Reel Big Fish, Paramore, You Me At Six, Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday, and the festival expanded from its small scale to hosting over forty different acts across six stages.