It won’t have gone unnoticed just how well British bands are faring in all genres of rock and metal at the moment. It seems at all levels we’re flourishing, and now throwing their Hardcore hats into the ring are Blood Youth. Hailing from Harrogate, Yorkshire, the band have garnered a lot of praise for high energy live shows and a much revered EP called Closure (Banquet).
This however is the all-important début album for the band and more often than not on Beyond Repair (Rude) they absolutely fucking nail it by mixing aggressive Hardcore with some more melodic choruses.
The first element that really grabs is the raw feel of the vocals spat by frontman Kaya Tarsus. This is clearly the sound of a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and it’s always refreshing to come across a frontman who has such a passionate and direct delivery. On the flip side the cleaner vocals can sometimes jar quite a bit and are just didn’t engage me as much as the more aggressive parts. Blood Youth do manage to pull it all together on the track ‘Savanna’ though which uses the loud/quiet dynamic to great effect.
The music is of a high calibre throughout and brought to mind bands like Stray From The Path throughout the course of the album. There is a very driving and pacey feeling across the board with the guitar and drums propelling every song forward without any let up. ‘Parasite’ is a total, as the kids would say, banger I can just see this song destroying pits in the live arena. A superb simple riff from guitarist Chris Pritchard weaves in and out the track and the breakdown is crushing; I challenge anyone to not bounce like a lunatic to this song. The drums are also worth taking note of, and Sam Hallett pounds the skins from start to finish with no let up.
The production really lends itself with an almost live feel also balancing the clarity needed to fully experience the songs. I think this a real feather in the cap for a début album and shouldn’t be ignored. I had similar feeling about the production on the latest Every Time I Die record.
While a couple of songs on Beyond Repair drag and are devoid of the ideas and catchiness found in the earlier tracks this in no way detracts from what is a very, very good album from Blood Youth.
8.0/10
KIERAN MITCHELL