Cult of Youth: Love Will Prevail

Brooklyn's Cult of Youth is an interesting creature. While not metal by any means their music has an almost punk abrasion to while like Death In June flirts with folk song writing . Their newest album "Love Will Prevail" is an exercise in maturity

"Man and man's ruin" starts off as a good example of the growth the band has made , they don't come bounding out this time it's a gradual build with different melodies surfacing long the way.

"Golden age" is more long of the lines of their previous work, as the strum of the guitar rolls this long in a rather up beat manner while the bass drive it. The vocal layering really shows improve well  the restraint found in the lead vocal which remains tuneful even in the more shouted sections . Not taking away from the fact stylistically this is their trademark but not not beating this approach into the ground.

"Prince of  peace" from some reason the bass line to this song reminds me of the mellower verse of "Ramble on" but I also here shades of the Rolling Stones on this one as well. Any way you slice it this has a post Sumer of love vibe to it. The John Paul Jones bass playing resurfaces on " New old ways" which takes a simpler approach on the guitar, giving the hypnotic vocal refrains room to breathe.

" Garden. Of Delights" starts of as a darker take on what the band is known for, then  weird keyboards creep underneath along with horns bleating from the outskirts. The use of brass on this album on more than one occasion reminds me of Miles Davis' heroin years of the sixties. the mix on this song is a testament to the extra effort which went into this one.This makes it  possible for the pyschedelics to seep out of  a song like " a new way".

"the Path of total freedom" rambles down the beaten path like a ghost of the wild west, and serves as more of an intro to "the Gateway" whose use of a tense acoustic guitar reminds me a little of the Cure. the vocals return to the band older style where they are recklessly allowed to warble a little flat, but they are set back into the reverb a bit and it doesn't prove to be a taste I push myself to acquire. With their earlier work this was the one area I found myself not clicking with and the vocals are the area where the most improvement is show aside from the vaster scope to the songwriting.

"To lay with the wolves" takes a darker turn into almost Swans territory as the guitar holds a chilling dissonance to it and some excellent crooning interplays. The bass playing counterbalances some of the darkness here as it dances around the song providing a hopeful emotional undercurrent.

"It took a lifetime" the folk punk strut of this one has enough swagger to feel like it could have been on Guns n Roses "Lies" album or an acoustic take on Lords of the New Church. It weird outro fade is a nice build and adds to the Death in June shrine which is not as prominent as I suspected it's presence on previous albums.

Overall I can give this album the elusive perfect 10 score, as this album is fully realized and they have really grown into themselves and hit every mark, even the elements which have been too happy for me are more balanced and the frolicking Pogues like quality it tempered with a new depth and maturity, this one will be on my top ten non-metal albums of the year list for sure as its one of those albums I look forward listening to when I'm away from it.