Your Demise-The Golden Age
Four years ago Your Demise were a very different proposition to what they are today. They were very much a regular British hardcore band, nothing more nothing less, and didn't appear to pose much threat of setting the world on fire. Move the clock forward to 2010 and this was a completely different story, the replacement of frontman George Noble with Ed McRae bringing a sudden fire, enthusiasm and versatility to the band, the fruits of such facts stepping forward in the brilliant The Kids We Used To Be album. To cut a long story short the quintet had become not only one of Britain's most trailblazing live bands but one of its most exciting and promising young bands full stop.
The Golden Age is all that success, desire to break new-ground and potential taken to its natural conclusion and will be without doubt one of the most enveloping and downright enjoyable records that 2012 will see, an eleven track axe-wielding schizophrenic beast that makes total sense despite its frequent stylistic shifts. The title-track, an intriguing and unusual merging of joyous skate-punk and serious fuck-you metallic hardcore, roars proceedings into full-gear instantly, McRae's rally cry of "Your Demise Round Two!" pumping you up harder than a shot of super-strength espresso. Single These Lights echoes The Offspring and NOFX with its undeniable hooks and huge chorus, fully adding a shining melodic streak to the band's repertoire, while Paper Trails is a bruised anthem that even has the guts to throw female vocals into the mix courtesy of Evarose's Dannika Webber. That's not to say this isn't a heavy record though, it very much is, Push Me Under is bruising in its middle-finger raised swagger and Letlive.'s Jason Butler brings I'm (Not) The One to an insane bone-crunching close as his screams intertwine seamlessly with McRae's. The fact that this also clearly remains a Your Demise album throughout despite the guests mentioned being only two of seven similarly shows just how brave and confident it is. Lyrically the album essentially deals with the ups and downs of life and a real power comes in its balancing of hate and hurt as in "born a fucking snake and die one too" or "stuck in this loveless rut" with an uplifting sense of positivity in which although "it's a long way home" the "sky [still] shines down" and there's "never a dull moment" they're "in this till the end", its details like these that make for a powerfully and perhaps understatedly motivating piece of work.
The album is certain to be divisive in its departures but suggestively that's also the intention and its level of quality equally suggests that a whole lot more people are going to be getting on board with Your Demise than those who get off. If you like modern day punk-rock, this covers all bases, they've nailed it.