Europe's Your Demise does American hardcore

In the vast landscape that is European metal, bands have always been faced with an uphill battle when it comes to making it in the States. It doesn't seem fair, considering so many of metal's most beloved subgenres began in Europe, but for some reason Americans tend to love their own and it can be difficult for a European band to make any headway overseas. Recently, Bring Me the Horizon's massive stateside success have given other metal bands from across the pond hope for American recognition, and as a result American record labels have begun signing their token European metal act in the hopes of finding their own BMTH, often with poor results. Respected American metal label Rise Records recently threw their hat into the ring with the signing of a young band from Brighton, England called Your Demise. Rise released Your Demise's latest album, The Kids We Used to Be on October 26^th, and it seems like they have made one of the better signings of the post-Bring Me the Horizon signing frenzy.

There is nothing on The Kids We Used to Be that reinvents the wheel in any way, shape or form, but it's a really good, solid metallic hardcore record with an emphasis on the hardcore part. The album opens with gang vocals and clean singing is used only sparingly throughout (although the clean chorus on "Like A Broken Record" is very effective), as Your Demise leans heavily on Ed McRae's throaty rasp. McRae is certainly not much of a lyricist, but he brings an excellent energy to some pretty standard sounding songs.

Although marketed as a metal band, Your Demise remind the listener more of early 90's New York tough guy hardcore. Bands like Madball and Terror have definitely been in constant rotation in these guys' headphones for years, and it shows in the downtuned, chugging riffs and huge, thunderous drums on The Kids We Used to Be.

There is something to be said for a British band executing old school American hardcore as well as Your Demise do. The guitars add a little more of a metal tinge to the songs than those of fellow Brits like Dead Swans and More Than Life, but the boys from Brighton have smartly opted out of Bring Me the Horizon style synths and drum triggers. There is a distinctly raw feel to Your Demise; these songs could easily be five or ten years old with the sloppy breakdowns and lack of computerized precision that permeates The Kids We Used to Be.

"Miles Away" is the standout track on the album, with a chorus that sticks in your head all day and an absolutely earth shattering bass drop around the minute and a half mark that sounds like the onset of the apocalypse in headphones. As previously stated, there is nothing definitively original about what Your Demise does, but they do very well. There are some really great two-step parts, some fantastic breakdowns and the feeling of desperation you can only get in music coming from an economically depressed English factory town like Brighton. If you're looking for the next big thing, skip this one. If you're looking to have some fun and scream along at the top of your lungs, run out and grab a copy of The Kids We Used to Be ASAP.