Old Crows / Young Cardinals

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	(85%)^[4]
Allmusic	^[5]
Kerrang!	(#1267, p.54)
Punknews.org	^[6]
Sputnikmusic	^[7]
Toro Magazine	^[8]
Ultimate Guitar	(9.3/10)^[9]

Old Crows / Young Cardinals is the fourth and final studio album from post-hardcore band Alexisonfire, released on June 23, 2009.^[10] The album was originally referred to by the shortened title of Young Cardinals,^[11] until the name change was announced on April 1, 2009.^[10] The album debuted at #81 on the Billboard 200, making this Alexisonfire's highest charting album in the US to date.^[12]

1 Recording
2 Release
3 Singles
4 Track listing
5 Old Crows/Young Cardinals Bonus Tracks EP
- 5.1 Track listing
6 Personnel
7 Chart performance
8 References
9 External links

Recording

In an interview in January 2009, Wade MacNeil and band manager Joel Carriere confirmed that they have 10 songs ready for recording,^[13] one of which being "Emerald St." (given full title "Emerald Street" on the album).^[14] The band announced they would begin recording on February 1, 2009, documenting the process as it happened on their internet blog,^[15] with MacNeil stating that "For the first time ever we have too many songs".^[16] Recording took place in Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia,^[17] working with engineer Nick Blagona (who has previously worked with April Wine and Cat Stevens, as well as the band's 2006 album, Crisis).^[2]^[18] One week later, Dallas Green announced that the band had already completed seven songs, including "Midnight Regulations",^[19] and "probably 8 by the time we finish up".^[15] By March 1, 2009, the band announced in their studio blog that they had "drums, bass and most of the guitars completed", and had "now moved on to leads and overdubs".^[20] Later the same week, MacNeil announced that work on the album in Vancouver had been completed, with the exception of Green's vocal parts.^[14] Upon returning from Vancouver, further recording took place at Silo Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, the same location used on the band's 2004 album Watch Out! and some parts of Crisis.^[18] Here, the band co-produced with Julius Butty, who had also worked on the band's previous two albums.^[17] Mastering of the album was completed on April 8, 2009,^[21] by Brett Zilahi at João Carvalho Mastering.^[22]

Release

The band's fourth studio album, it was released on Dine Alone Records, an independent record label founded by the band's manager Joel Carriere. It will mark the first time the band have not released through Distort Entertainment in Canada. On April 20 the band released their first single from Old Crows/Young Cardinals called "Young Cardinals" and have stated the album was slated for release on June 23, 2009.^[17] Dine Alone will release the disc in Canada, Australia and South Africa, while the album will be released in the United States by Vagrant Records.^[17]

On March 3, 2010, Dine Alone released Old Crows/Young Cardinals on coloured vinyl discs. After the initial run, a standard black pressing will replace it.^[23] The initial run contains the following French quote across all four sides of the album in the deadwax: Et ses mains ourdiraient/Les entrailles du prêtre/Au défaut d'un cordon/Pour étrangler les rois. It is a quote from philosopher Denis Diderot's poem Les Éleuthéromanes, translated to: And his hands would plait the priest's entrails, for want of a rope, to strangle kings. More succinctly, it has been taken to mean, "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."^[24]

Singles

The first single, "Young Cardinals", was played on radio on April 20.^[25]^[26] The official release date was May 12, 2009. "Born and Raised" was released October 14, 2009 and "The Northern" was released December 29, 2009.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Alexisonfire; lyrics on track 6 based on the hymn "Roll Jordan, Roll", all music composed by Alexisonfire.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Old Crows"	4:17
2.	"Young Cardinals"	3:38
3.	"Sons of Privilege"	3:21
4.	"Born and Raised"	4:01
5.	"No Rest"	3:37
6.	"The Northern"	4:28
7.	"Midnight Regulations"	4:11
8.	"Emerald Street"	3:16
9.	"Heading for the Sun"	3:45
10.	"Accept Crime"	3:14
11.	"Burial"	4:18
Total length:		42:06

iTunes pre-order bonus track
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Young Cardinals" (demo)	3:51

Japanese Edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Two Sisters"	1:27
13.	"Wayfarer Youth"	3:41

Australian Edition
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Wayfarer Youth" (bonus track on the first pressing^[27])	3:41