Your Demise

The Kids We Used To Be

Written by: PP on 02/11/2010 06:29:50

The change of a vocalist is usually thought of as a huge negative, but in the case of Your Demise, things couldn't have turned out much better for them when they booted George Noble from the band and replaced him with Ed McRae last year. Not only did the band gain in him an immense force of energy at live shows that spread like the plague to the rest of the band, but his cleaner, more melodic approach to the vocals is much more varied and suitable for the band than the monotone hardcore yell of Noble. That's why "The Kids We Used To Be", their third album to date, has also turned out as their best one yet. It's an album where Your Demise has matured significantly, taking in and integrating a number of new influences to their distinct British hardcore sound, while retaining the pissed off hardcore punk sound of their earlier albums.

Now, the standard neck-breakers like "Miles Away" and "Scared Of The Light" follow largely the same formula as before: angry, pissed off dude screaming his lungs off on top of angry, pissed off hardcore punk. The band used to be rather terrible at this style if you ask me, but they've improved massively by injecting just a teeny weeny bit of melody into such tracks to make their essence stick out a little more. But the tracks where the band varies their expression into new territories is where things get real interesting. "Life Of Luxury", for instance, is easily better than any other Your Demise song in the past, leaning towards "Watch Out"-era Alexisonfire, with Mike Duce (Lower Than Atlantis) on guest vocals doing a fantastic job on the cleans in the song (assuming that he does the cleans, I'm not entirely sure). He sounds just like Dallas Green used to sound like on that album, and that's no easy feat, kids. Then you have "Teenage Lust", which combines "Broadcasting..." era Comeback Kid with some classic Bane stuff into a melodic mid-tempo piece. The guitarists deserve a lot of credit here for coming up with such a good melody line up high, even if it does sound almost identical to Comeback Kid, because it makes the song just that much more interesting than the old monotone-yell stuff. The title track has a sick lead riff, a high-flying tapped section that's played at breakneck speed for good measure. The clean-vocal chorus once again lifts the song above so many old Your Demise songs - and there are even gang shouts to vary the structure even more. It matches my memory of seeing these guys play on the Devil Wears Prada tour in Europe last year, where McRae had just joined the band and used a Champion-esque clean vocal instead of the hardcore yell throughout their set. It worked out great, and it works very well here too, though it should be said that his thick scream is also a great asset for the band.

In general, you get the feeling that Your Demise have had albums by Alexisonfire, Comeback Kid and Bane on heavy rotation while writing this record. There's still the odd brutal piece such as "Like A Broken Record" (though there's a clean chorus here too), but the focus is clearly on greater amounts of layered melody and catchier song structures than before. They've added more melody, more cleans, and more hooks without sacrificing too much of their roots as a British hardcore band, and it's definitely for the better, because the songs have benefited greatly from variation. As a result, "The Kids We Used To Be" is another very good hardcore album just like the recently released To Kill album that could be much better if it wasn't for Comeback Kid slamming their fist on the table as a sign of dominance this year with "Symptoms + Cures".

Download: Life Of Luxury, Teenage Lust, The Kids We Used To Be...
For the fans of: Comeback Kid, Bane, Alexisonfire (old)
Listen: Myspace

Release date 20.09.2010
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