YOUTH CODE - Commitment To Complications

Just as a lantern lights up a dark room, American duo Ryan George and Sara Taylor, better known as Youth Code, represent a thoroughly valid alternative to an Ebm scene split between slavish repetition of the classics (copying both their musical style and visual imagery) and its variant heavily influenced by trance music, which, for many purists, has nothing to do with the genre at all. On one hand, Youth Code have carried out a renewal of the very concept of Ebm, positioning themselves as spokespeople for a "Youth Code" strongly influenced both by the Canadian electro-industrial of Front Line Assembly and Skinny Puppy, and by the Wax Trax! chapter and Ministry (plus a pronounced punk attitude); on the other, with their new album "Commitment To Complications", out April 8th on Dais Records, they have managed to fill that lack of "physicality" that so many before them had tried to express, rarely succeeding in making electro body music as "concrete", powerful and explosive as rock itself.

Youth Code are nothing less than the latest, and particularly successful, reincarnation of Ebm/electro-industrial music, a genre whose roots also lie in the pioneering cyber-punk approach of acts already mentioned, such as Bill Leeb (frontman of FLA) and Nivek Ogre (at the helm of Puppy). Their new album represents not only a snapshot clearly showing their evolution towards a more personal sound compared to the past, but also the final result of a long maturation process for the genre which, through albums whose importance has been universally acknowledged such as "Rabies" (by Puppy) and "Caustic Grip" (by FLA), brought it particularly close to the realm of rock ("Wax Trax!" is just one example, though one could also mention the tendency of the aforementioned bands to use flesh-and-blood drummers during their live shows).

The days when Leeb boasted about never having used a single guitar on their albums are long gone, and it's Rhys Fulber, producing here, who is responsible for a sound that closely recalls some of the less canonical works of the 90s. Conceptually, "Commitment To Complications" carries much of the decidedly unconventional spirit of albums like "Tenebrae Vision" by the supergroup Cyberaktif, and it's one of those albums that their mentors would have wanted to make but never quite managed to.

Initially regarded as mere slavish imitators of their mentors' lesson (though not for that musically incapable) following the release of their self-titled debut album in 2013, after the 2014 EP "A Place to Stand" (which changed the game and dispelled the main accusations levelled by their detractors) and after the 2015 single "Anagnorisis" (a track featured on their latest effort), they reach a genuinely enviable stylistic maturity, considering this is only their second full length, showcasing a perfect blend of blistering rhythms alternating with violent midtempo passages, punk/hardcore-style riffing and a searing scream (at times even excessive). Their influences are still very much present in this work, but they've been cannibalized in such a way as to extract the best from them, without copying structures already present in the finest repertoire of their sources of inspiration.

What's fundamental here, besides the vocal lines, is the intricate rhythmic construction, which draws ever-shifting structures that coexist perfectly even within the same track. Fulber's cleverness lay in scattering references here and there to the early landmark works of the aforementioned bands without imposing his own musical style, instead enhancing the destructive punk charge that has always characterized their formula (it's no coincidence that the two of them come from exactly that scene).

Not just tracks marked by breakneck rhythms alternating with slow melodic openings (“The Dust Of Fallen Rome” perfectly embodies this apparent oxymoron), or typically moshpit-ready breakdowns (the short, concise “Transitions”, the third track made available ahead of release), or slow, dystopian Puppy-esque progressions in “Anagnorisis”, or no-frills Ebm midtempos in “Doghead” and “Avengement” — but also episodes with a more clearly melodic flavour, like “Lacerate Wildly” and the closing “Lost At Sea”, the latter a summa of the rhythmic and sonic solutions adopted by the band, in which brief hints of broken rhythm make an appearance. It's in these last two cases that Sara reins in her explosive rage to show us her more human side, revealing a certain vocal versatility. The only truly atypical episode is the short opener, Kraftwerk-esque in flavour, which misleads the listener, who would instead expect an incipit built on musical and verbal violence.

Without exaggeration, “Commitment To Complications” is one of the smartest, most creative records of the year in the post-industrial field, an album with a very strong punk connotation, a work that raises the bar for quality within the genre and gives us back a duo that has once again changed skin, reworking the genre's most important lessons with great wit — and one that, with this release, will likely achieve its true consecration.

Those who've seen them live strongly recommend their turbulent performances, and we, while waiting for an Italian date, based on the explosiveness and propulsive, punk-rooted expressiveness of their music, can only confirm it. In all likelihood, Youth Code are the most important Ebm act (in various respects) of the last four years, and one that will keep producing excellent work in the near future too. In the meantime, we're enjoying this excellent second long-player of theirs. A resounding pass.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

21/04/2016