If you were going to pick a place in the UK for a hardcore metal band to come from, Harrogate probably wouldn’t be too high up on the list. In fact, if we’re honest, it probably wouldn’t be on anyone’s list at all. Best known for being a Northern spa town with some quite nice tea and cheese, it hardly conjurs images of thrashing, noisy-as-hell music – but Blood Youth have been more than happy to challenge that perception since their formation in the town in 2014.
Following the release of debut full length ‘Beyond Repair’ in 2017, the band have toured extensively with the likes of Crossfaith, Bury Tomorrow, and Stonesour, as well as making an appearance at Reading and Leeds Festivals last year. With that experience has come significant development, all of which has been channelled straight into sophomore album ‘Starve’.
From the off, this album is tinged with a significantly more nu-metal flavour than their debut, drawing on the sound of early Slipknot and Korn whilst still retaining their own melodic hardcore style. Title track ‘Starve’, coming after the ominous, distorted instrumental intro of ‘{51/50}’, instantly strikes as some of their best work to date – unrelentingly heavy and melodic all at once, front man Kaya Tarsus is able to carry power and emotion through both his clean and unclean vocals, achieving the perfect balance that many fail to grasp.
With such a powerful song to open, it could easily be a case of all downhill from here for the ensuing eleven tracks – but it isn’t. It really, really isn’t. ‘Cut Me Open’ blasts in with utter visceral rage, whilst single ‘Spineless’ is a grinding representation of inner darkness. There’s no halt in the brutality with the gut-punching bass of ‘Nerve’, and if you begin to think that interlude ‘{stone.tape.theory}’ is a chance to relax, take this as your prior warning to buckle up – next track ‘Visitant’ crashes in like a truck with bruising, ribcage rattling riffs and relentless drums. Filler tracks are out of the question here; from the roaring ‘Waste Away’ to the ire-drenched, crushing two minutes of ‘Hate’, this is an exhilarating ride from start to finish. Could it benefit from a slight change in pace occasionally? Maybe – but that’s not what we’re here for, and with such quality on display it’s hard to consider asking for anything more.
‘Starve’ is beautifully, soul crushingly dark throughout, musically reflecting the intense feelings of anger, despair and grief carried through the lyrics. It’s an outlet for everything that troubles us, a salve for the raw agony of living with darkness and emotional torment – comforting, genuine, and therapeutic in equal measure. This isn’t the voice of someone who’s imagining what it’s like to be in that place in your mind – this is known and experienced, and the feelings pour out from every word and thundering riff.
The evolution and progression Blood Youth have undergone in the last few years is phenomenal, and this sophomore release is a step up in every possible way as they find a sound that is uniquely their own. Visceral, unpredictable, and incredibly creative, ‘Starve’ draws from so many genres and influences that what’s left is simply Blood Youth; each listen reveals a different facet of this glittering diamond of an album until it becomes an addiction. For heavy music fans, trust us – this one is unmissable.
GEM ROGERS