Review: Your Demise - The Golden Age

 Graaah!!! Stupid band! They're not hardcore anymore! They betrayed the scene! is the kind of thing many enthusiasts of previous material from St. Albans punk quintet Your Demise might be saying regarding their latest offering The Golden Age. True their first three albums injected a shot of venom into the UK hardcore scene, not before Gallows obviously, but their most impressive moment was when they really managed to set themselves apart from their fellow hardcore ranks with the recruitment of vocalist Ed McRae for 2010's The Kids We Used to Be. Considering the album was the first set of new material since their vile fall out with previous frontman George Noble, the album was a more fresh and positive outing for the group.

 Since then the positivity within the group has only begun to flourish and on The Golden Age, this is clearly reflected. And so on this album, the sense of bile and scathing in toned down and in their place we have... melodies and ... hooks!!! Basically, The Golden Age is a melodic hardcore album, a pop punk record, bringing elements of their hardcore past with elements of that genre that celebrates three cord fun. So, it's less Gallows, more A Day to Remember, so it's little surprise that most hardcore enthusiasts will be asking "What the fuck? Those sellouts!" and the like. However, in my own opinion the more hardcore take on pop punk which has emerged in recent years is awesome and one of the few reasons why the statement "Pop punk's not dead!" is still valid. And Your Demise nail this type of music on this album. Whether they totally lose themselves in the poppy charm like on the infectiously hooky These Lights or Paper Trails which is only made glossier as breakdowns from Stuart Paice and Daniel Osbourne are accompanied by guest vocals from Evarose's Dannika Webber or their anger is properly released on the likes of Forget About Me and The Colour of Envy which carry a reminiscence to Your Demise's metalcore peers in August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada, the ability to create a set of captivating songs with juggernaut heaviness that will ensue all sorts of headbanging and moshing is permanently on display. 

 The vocal performance of McRae is perfect in captivating the full emotional spectrum with his smooth poppy vocals giving the glossier moments that extra sheen and his frenzied screaming highlighting the prominent brutality that the band can still unleash. However, to get things going the extra mile, the range of guest vocalists across the album is also a pulsing and exciting feature. Such as I'm (Not) the One's appearance from letlive.'s Jason Aalon Butler, whose deranged impassioned screaming makes the song that bit more schizophrenic or A Decade of Drifting's contribution from You Me At Six's Josh Franceschi whose soaring melodic performance encompasses the switching attitude between fun and serious that the song has.

 So, with sing-along choruses, poppy hooks and associations with You Me At Six, Your Demise can pretty much kiss their credibility from full-on hardcore meatheads goodbye but that doesn't mean their music doesn't still kick-ass. There's a tremendous vibe of positivity on this album as pulsing riffs work with punk melodies and a dose of brutality. This is definitely a more accessible album but it still hits hard. It's an album everyone can mosh to.

Your Demise's The Golden Age is out now via Visible Noise. The band will tour the UK on The Rock Sound Impericon Exposure Tour with Trapped Under Ice, Man Overboard and Basement.