With two releases and several tours etched in stone, Portland, Oregon's Young Turks bring to the table their latest EP, Where I Rise, this November. Picking up right where they left off from their previous release, Where I Lie, this heavy-hitting vegan group provides listeners with four new blistering songs that captures the sound and fury of early-2000s hardcore acts like The Suicide File, American Nightmare and Comeback Kid.
Fueled with intensity and heart, Where I Rise is an honest album that cuts right through listeners with angst-ridden anthems that are short and straight to the point. The opening track on this album, "Territo(royally) Pissed", is an explosive track that reflects on maintaining the sincerity and passion of their scene. Diving head-first into the song's opening lyrics, "I don't give a shit/Your music means nothing/Your actions speak even less", "Territo(royally) Pissed" is a track that subtly appears to take stabs at their undesirable adversaries.
As "Territo(royally) Pissed" sets the stage for the rest of this EP, and "Zone K" leads off next with an even heavier transition into the record. This is an explosive song that opens up the floor with an intense intro that builds up immediately into a standard chord progression. Implementing a standard fast-and-slow song pattern that is traditional among most contemporary hardcore acts, the transition into "Zone K"'s heavy-hitting part recollects the intensity of older acts like Comeback Kid.
"Zone K" is a song that champions the mentality of living for yourself, which appears to be an underlying theme for most of the songs on this record. This theme can be easily conveyed from the lines, "Be true to you and every fucking thing you do". Even though these words have been simply conveyed by many hardcore bands old and new, these lines reflect the honesty that band truly presents throughout this record.
While the first two tracks of Where I Rise convey enlightening messages of staying true to yourself, "Roe Vs. Wade Vs. Westbrook" is also another angst-ridden anthem that continues to follow up on this theme. However, what makes this song stand out more is the lyrical content. Refusing to let conforming opinions conflict with the band's values, the lines "She wants me to speak those words and dig my grave/But looking 'round at your people's face, those are words I'll never say" embrace the idea of being out of step with the world around you. If that's enough to get your blood pumping, the lines "Fuck this city" is the ultimate middle finger of this song that can be easily conveyed to anyone who refuses to accept your beliefs.
Finally, "Our Gods" is the final send-off for this record. Opening with a dreary interlude, this is a song that not only continues to follow suit with their intense sound, but also introduces a complimentary melodic undertone that reveals emotional qualities, comparable to The Suicide File's heartfelt anthem, "Song For Tonight". Lines like, "And I am so fucking scared/A young man who is not prepared/You won't believe what I've seen with these cold blue eyes" play into the theme of confronting uncertainty, while the proceeding lines "Take the black and never look back," send out a contrasting message to persevere forward regardless of your doubts. From beginning to end, this song keeps listeners at the edge of their seats up until the final chords fade out. This suspenseful ending to Where I Rise may possibly foreshadow what could expected from this band in the near future.
The fact that each song on this EP is less than 3 minutes long, Where I Rise is a record that will leave listeners begging for more. For fans of heavy-hitting and passionate hardcore, Young Turk's upcoming EP is an honest and straightforward hardcore record that captures the devotion and intensity from the bands that came before them. While reflecting back on the impact of their influences, Young Turks proves that melodic hardcore is still alive than ever with this release.
Tracklist:
1. Territo(royally) Pissed
2. Zone K
3. Roe Vs. Wade Vs. Westbrook
4. Old Gods
RIYL: Turn It Around by Comeback Kid, Twilight by The Suicide File, Background Music by American Nightmare and The Most by Down To Nothing
Rating:
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