ALBUM REVIEW: Skeleton Youth Forever – Yüth Forever

YÜTH FOREVER are an odd entity. Their debut effort Freudian Slip featured a number of moments when the chaotic carnage reached maximum overload and it was fantastic, but their choppy pacing made the album inconsistent. As such, their sophomore follow up Skeleton Youth Forever has a lot to build on, and by the sounds of it, the Illinois noise mongers appear to be more than prepared for such expectations.

Opening with Suicide Pistol Grip Pump and it becomes immediately apparent that YÜTH FOREVER will not be sticking to the standard rules. The KORN influences are blatantly obvious and the track has no real energy behind it, making for a very strange opening. Instead of kick starting with a massive riff, it would appear that the band are trying to communicate just how different they can be, but it unfortunately falls flat as the lyrics and vocal hooks don’t have enough to them to carry the song over the dull as dishwater backing track. It is not before following track People Pleaser starts that a display of what YÜTH FOREVER does best begins. The scatter shot riffs and vocal delivery are very reminiscent of Nu-metal at its peak but with the speed cranked all the way down.

After the title track, the album begins to slow even more, with the momentum being placed into different elements of the delivery. The vocal delivery on Love is wretched and it continues to get more and more strained as the album progresses until the final moments of the album when the throaty screams close the album in bleak fashion.

http:/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdN-AIQb_M

Skeleton Youth Forever maintains a better sense of consistency this time round in terms of atmosphere and vibe. The album is a dark and brooding journey and maintains this throughout the whole album. Bitterromantic Part 3 is a particularly gloomy offering that boasts massive riffs. However, the consistency of song quality is another matter, as Do You immediately follows on and unfortunately butchers all momentum the previous songs were successfully able to gather.

After all is said and done, Skeleton Youth Forever will more than likely have you sat wondering what just happened. The album is a scatter-shot, schizophrenic assault that when in its stride will floor you with tremendous ease. The unfortunate downside is that this album is a difficult listen, with inconsistent song writing and a sound that is, in all fairness, generally difficult to wrap your head around. YÜTH FOREVER has a sound that could be mind-bogglingly good, but the erratic nature of their sound means that the band miss the mark on more than one occasion.

Rating: 6/10

Skeleton Youth Forever is out now via Prosthetic Records.

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