When Life Comes to Death

The Acheron, 2011. Through smoke and black and skinned animal heads comes Young and In the Way. Disheveled, pale from countless days in nights away from light, dressed in denim and leather and patches. Lots of patches. They rip through a set of acerbic, crust-laden, atmospheric black metal. It's all too much for one fan. He grabs one of the sheep heads, its blood dribbling down his fingers and onto his clothes. He headbutts the cranium repeatedly, screaming. He understands. This is worship music.

Young and In the Way congealed into life at some point in 2009. They have released several albums both independently and through labels such as Antithetic Records, Headfirst Records, and A389 Recordings but "When Life Comes To Death" is their first with hardcore mainstay Deathwish Inc. Throughout all of these releases,  YAITW have impressed me with their thematic consistency. Although the music may wane slightly towards crust or hardcore or black metal, the heart of the band is the overpowering tones of nihilism and despair.

These tones are as present as ever on their newest release. Songs like "Loved and Unwanted," "Betrayed By Light," and the brilliant "Self Inflicted" are pure blasts of negativity in the form of lurching, ethereal black metal. "We Are Nothing" is perhaps the most hardcore of all the tracks, sounding like Watain at their most feral filtered through Earth Crisis.

There is little variety in the music, but their really doesn't need to be. This is a mood album, something to be engulfed by. Anything other than slight variations in their music would break the spell. I find this album's closest contemporary, in themes if not in music, would be The Velvet Underground's "White Light White Heat." This is a sincere compliment, any album that matches the focused carelessness of the Velvet's sophomore means that the listeners are in for a ride.

Stream it here: http://pitchfork.com/advance/444-when-life-comes-to-death/

Buy it here: http://store.deathwishinc.com/product/DW159v.html