ALBUM REVIEW: You Took The Sun When You Left – Leeched

Britain has always had a knack for breeding some of the most intensely violent music around, you need only look to the likes of CARCASS and NAPALM DEATH as proof of that. There are subtle nuances between British and American brutality and few bands have been able to combine the two, until now. Hailing from Manchester, LEECHED have found a winning mixture of bleak British industrial attitude combined with the straight talking, no nonsense approach that the yanks have mastered over the years.

On their debut EP, Nothing Will Grow From The Rotten Earth, the approach LEECHED took was to play as hard and fast as possible in order to create a feral and intimidating 10 minute blast that was gone as quickly as it arrived. Building upon the seeds that were laid out there, You Took The Sun When You Left is a more thought out, deliberate record that takes previous elements and amplifies them to frightful effect. Openers Cripple The Herd and Rope both cram obscene amounts of pace and brutality into two minutes of music between them. It’s on following tracks The Stone and The Steel, By The Factories and Guilt that really begin to show were LEECHED have developed into their own sound. The thunderous drums are backed by fuzz ridden bass and razor sharp guitars that fuse together into ugly and deep grooves that shake and throw the listener about with little care for their health.

You Took The Sun When You Left is a dynamic album in every sense of the word. LEECHED have become excellent at utilising pace to the best effect, with smooth transitions from break neck blasts to truly terrifying breakdowns that come at you with clenched fists and intent to kill. Mouthful of Dirt is a stand out track on the record and uses this blueprint to great effect, the double bass in the opening moments amplifying the raging groove with the clear vision to incite as much violence as possible, taking ample influence from bands like NAILS.

In fact, that’s probably the best comparison to make, LEECHED sound like a Britain’s answer to NAILS. Except where the Americans opt for flat out abuse for 20 straight minutes, LEECHED are open to trying more ambient sounds, like on Born in Sand. Whilst it does provide a well needed rest from the aggression, it does feel somewhat redundant when it bleeds into the furious Raised By Lead with incredibly ferocity, making one wonder why this couldn’t have been fused together as a meaty and lengthy track rather than splitting them down into two offerings.

When all is said and done, what LEECHED have created with You Took The Sun When You Left is a statement of intent. Intent to become the most bruising, abusive and downright intimidating bands to come out of this island in a while. Their music is a blanket of bleak atmosphere made up by throttling drums, deep grooving bass line and tooth-grinding guitars all with the deep screams of anger thrown over the top for good measure. Sure there are things that need tightening up, but what the band have done after moving on from their debut is clearly show that they are a band growing and developing with a clear sound in their mind at all times. Fear LEECHED, because they’re coming for your throat.

Rating: 8/10

You Took The Sun When You Left is out now via Prosthetic Records

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