ALBUM REVIEW: Children Of Night – Jonathan Young

October 12, 2023 Shaun McKenna

The usual mental imagery of a one man band is someone honking in a public park that you try to avoid eye contact with. JONATHAN YOUNG is no such deflector of attention. With YouTube views in the tens of millions and no pop-culture related song safe from a damn good covering, he has amassed a following for wearing the hats of lead vocalist, guitarist, drummer, bassist and keyboardist that would be a bridge too far for even the most cranially enhanced among us. 2021 saw the release of his first all original album, Starship Velociraptor, and now Children Of Night, a heavy/viking metal sophomore effort, has stepped up to have a go at the limelight.

While the leap from covers to originals is no small one, this can be said of Children Of Night straight up – when it’s good, it’s great. Young has talent in a hefty chunk of endeavours, but his strength is categorically in the vocal department and he leans on that hard with every reason to. Witch Hunter is a blazing that channels all the fun of POWERWOLF; huge church organ flourishes and layered growls and whispers turning into throaty shouting at the drop of a hat. Meanwhile, Speak To The Dead toes the line between a sea shanty’s pirate-themed warnings and high fantasy bard-ery that showcases Young’s vocal style at its absolute best.

It isn’t all about the main man, however. When the cameos aren’t of the established metal persuasion – Matt Heafy of that there TRIVIUM adds a dynamic guitar element to the goofy but enjoyable Army Of The Damned – the YouTube influence is strong. Some appearances work better than others, with God Of Greed a notable highlight for the inclusion of RichardEB’s powerful guitar work, but all of them bring some measure of something different to the table.

But here’s the rub. Children Of Night has an unfortunate habit of getting lost at sea when it comes to genre and style, and at times it is nothing short of jarring. As with any album, the occasional instance is fine, for variety purposes. Take Wolf Within, a soaring bit of heavy metal balladry that seems like it fell off an entirely different album and landed in the middle of this one but is an anthemic belter in its own right. But there are chunks of the album that feel noticeable purely by their inclusion. The piano breakdown of the otherwise punchy Oceangrave is so out of left-field as to be immediately unusual. Meanwhile, Drinking Blood would have felt like a BREAKING BENJAMIN B-side on its best day, but when it bumps up against the distinctly Irish folk stirrings of Fight The Tide it emphasizes it as a particularly flat effort even further.

With an array of talent on board that complements and elevates their individual elements, Children Of Night has plenty of hearty, fist-pumping moments scattered throughout – but for where it abandons the paths it started down. The way it flits between genres and metal bases errs on the wrong side of variety, and more often feels like it’s trying to juggle too many battleaxes. The end result, while peppered with strong hallmarks and highlights, struggles to shake a distracting lack of cohesiveness that is only compounded by the broad scope of the featured players. Perfect for YouTube spotlights – just less so for a full record.

Rating: 6/10