Blood Youth – ‘Inside My Head’ [Review]
Thick. Solid. Big. Full of spunk.
Get your mind out of the gutter – this is a melodic hardcore EP we’re talking about. Honest.
Listening to Inside My Head‘s five cuts of plectrum-eroding, string-melting, throat-scarring, drumhead-abusing intensity, the key word that comes to mind is catharsis. Granted, it’s expected that hardcore-related songs will have that quality at their cores – but at times the raw, skinned-flesh frustration on display borders on becoming straight-up disquieting. There’s no doubt whatsoever that behind these tracks lies some seriously fucked-up shit.
Add songwriting skill and maturity to said shit, and you have something serious on your hands (or, more accurately, in your ears). Piece By Piece churns, strides, chops and undulates; Cold Sweat is the soundtrack to a cognitive cage match; Dead Space comes across like a punk-fuelled jackhammer; and Big Smoke clicks tangentially between simple melodies, circle-pit-inducing riffs, anthemic hooks, brutal screams, and tension-filled low-key sections – but lead single Failure absolutely proves its worth as an archetypal A-side. That song was made to go over instantly live, and hearing cramped crowds screaming its hooks back at Blood Youth is no doubt already a chill-inducing experience.
Considering the post-Climates struggles Blood Youth have had to overcome, Inside My Head delivers everything their fans are likely hoping for. For those soon-to-be-satisfied individuals, June 22nd is going to be a big day. Get excited for it.
TMMP RATING: 92%
Links / Video
Inside My Head drops June 22 via Rude Records.
Blood Youth on Facebook and Twitter.
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