Earth Crisis – with Ignite at the Middle East Cafe – Review

Earth Crisis

with Ignite at the Middle East
by Scott Hefflon

Ignite was a helluva lot faster than I’d anticipated. Yeah, I know it’s old school DC HC, but I didn’t expect it to be speedcore tempo. While the room wasn’t packed, the pit was. Ignite moved the crowd both emotionally and physically. Their Minor Threat-ish vocals, chunky guitars and clean, rampaging bass seemed to be just what the room needed to, well, ignite. The drum sound actually resembled a drum set, instead of the sonic explosions we’ve come to expect. Singer Zoli Teglas (formerly of Uniform Choice) commanded attention as he paced and paced and paced the stage. Known for his dedication to achieving unity (as is the whole band), Zoli prefaced the tracks to their latest Conversion release, Call On My Brother, with inspirational rants about sticking together, supporting each other, and other positive aspects of being angry and young. There was, of course, wild applause.

Earth Crisis began their set with the title track of their previous Victory release, Firestorm, and that set the standard for the night. If you are at all familiar with the band, you know they’re the most massive hardcore band in the country. Usually, this is called hype, but in this case, it’s merely the way it is. The power of their music, their convictions, and their live presence is simply amazing. I am not, by nature, one who memorizes lyrics. I’ve read them and they are emotionally super-charged and concise to the point of being razor sharp. It seems I was one of the few who didn’t know the lyrics by heart. It’s awe-inspiring to hear HUNDREDS of kids yelling, “From birth an existence of agony begins that ends with execution. Intentionally infected with diseases to then try to find cures for humans. Fractured skulls, broken bones, scalded flesh and blinded eyes. For medical research and cosmetic testing animals suffer and die.”

A mixture of a horror movie, a nightmare-inducing episode of Hard Copy the network forgot to water-down, and a brutal, metal-influenced hardcore style; Earth Crisis live up to their name. They see the violence we blindly inflict on ourselves, other living creatures, and the Earth herself, and they write the chorus to the battle cry. Unlike Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Going To Take It,” Earth Crisis’ declarations will hopefully educate listeners to the atrocities being committed, as well as sell a lot of records.