August 6, 2009 | | 3

Your Demise, Ignorance Never Dies

Your Demise: Ignorance Never Dies

From what I’ve been able to read about this St. Alban metallic hardcore crew, adversity is a constant in their lives — from car accidents to incarceration, Your Demise have been through it all in their young existence. Luckily for us, the band hasn’t let it get to them and has, instead, channeled their experiences into the crashing, bruising blend of hardcore and metal that is Ignorance Never Dies.

Riffs reminiscent of New York hardcore are a mainstay throughout the album, often building to a furious crescendo. The rhythms folded into the mix range from head banging mayhem to solid hardcore grooves, never letting you get too much of a rest before blind siding you for a third or fourth time. Vocally, the delivery is perfect for the thundering avalanche of aggression that pours from the speakers.

Ignorance Never Dies
The title track builds slowly through the first 40 seconds or so with Biohazard influenced riffs. As the vocals finally come in around 1:20, there are a nice series of Sepultura-like guitars that add a nice flare to the introductory song. Not a bad way to get an album started.

Burnt Tongues
“Burnt Tongues” gets right down to business with back alley grooves and aggressive vocals. There’s a point in the song around :26 where the guitars lead you to believe that a series of clean vocals may make an appearance. Thankfully, Your Demise never let that happen, instead, delivering more gruff vocals thundering groove. The one minute mark sees a nice burst of driving drums and melodic riffing that really go well with the aggressive vocal delivery.

Nothing Left But Regret
Now this is what I’m talking about. After a pretty decent scream, the band lets loose with straight up, in-your-face hardcore aggression. The gang vocals on the chorus give you plenty of opportunity to shout along with the disc. I love the up tempo, blasting nature of this song. It’s got a little bit of a Hatebreed feel to it, but it’s subtle. There is plenty of mid-tempo groove to end the track.

Antipode
The opening riff to this next track is classic and memorable that mixes well with the thick bass line that warbles in the background. More up-tempo drumming keeps the blood flowing quickly as adrenaline boils in your system, awaiting its opportunity to explode and send you into a furious, Tasmanian devil like one-man mosh. I’m digging the hell out of this song.

Hypochondriac
“Hypochondriac” serves as a breathing point in the album. Its electronic and industrial nature is interesting and I’m not sure that its placement within the flow the album is right, but it’s easily skippable in future listens.

Dreaming Of Believing
“Dreaming of Believing” opens up with a nice mid-tempo rhythm with beefy riffs and aggressive vocal delivery. There’s a nice explosion of energy around the 40 second mark thats sure to send any mosh pit into a feeding frenzy of flying elbows and stomping boots.

TF
Creative drum work accompanies shouts and screams for the opening few moments of the song before the riffing comes in thick and raw. Again, there’s a sweet bit of bass work weaving through the song. More hardcore grooves fill the speakers as this song has some nice start/stop tempo shifts to keep you on your toes. The song has some seriously beefy riffing and drum work around the 2:15 mark.

Unknown Dub
“Unknown Dub” starts off with some interesting electronic drum work and noise. This and “Hypochondriac” are a bit misplaced on an album dominated by back alley hardcore, but who’s to deny a band’s whims. Again, another track that’s easily skipped.

The Clocks Aren’t Ticking Backwards
After the longest song on the album, Your Demise get back to the meat of the album with bruising hardcore riffs and steady drum work. This is another solid outing from the group that’s highlighted with some nice guitar work that leans more to the melodic end of the spectrum. I’m digging the slightly muted portion of this song in the latter half as it erupts to full volume with a sweet, rock-fueled lead.

Feels Like There?s Something Dark Inside
A slower, building opening moments to this next track are quickly beaten back with thundering drums and driving riffs as the vocals come in. There are some nicely timed double bass blasts that help break up the straight forward nature of the band. Once again, a thick bass line rumbles in the background. There’s a lot going on within this song — more so than much of the previous material on the album. There’s a decent breakdown at the four minute point.

All I Never Want To Be
I love the opening to this one. It’s like taking the first few punches in a street brawl before unleashing a few haymakers of your own. The drum work is creative and the layered shouts are a great touch to the song. It’s too bad this song is only 2:19 in length, I would love to hear more like this on the album. It’s one of my favorite songs.

Great Shape
“Great Shape” starts off with light drums before heading into a gut wrenching pile of techno-rave shit. I’ve listened to this album a bunch of times and have never made it paste the 20 second point on this song.

Black Veins
Thick riffs and burly bass work get “Black Veins” off to a violent start as the vocals come in with an added measure of vehemence to them. The song has a bit of a Hatebreed feel to it, but Your Demise certainly add their own style to it with great drum work and groove. I love the portion of this song after the 2:30 mark  it’s memorable and addictive.

Blood Ran Cold
The final track on Ignorance Never Dies starts off with a sweet series of punk driven riffs and light drum work before the band settles into a bass charged groove. Once this one really gets going, the hardcore grooves are undeniable and the vocal work is raw and confrontational. “Blood Ran Cold” is a string finisher to a pretty decent album.

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Favorite Tracks:
All of them

Additional Notes:
N/A