Youth Decay is a newly formed punk rock band from Canada, consisting of Stu Ross (Comeback Kid, ex-Living With Lions, ex-Misery Signals and Lowtalker), Benjamin Gibbs (The Grave Life), Dana Edwards (Carpenter), Loren Legare (Living With Lions) and Stu Mckillop (ex-Daggermouth, Aspirations). If you love bands like Brutal Youth and After The Fall, then this brand of melodic, aggressive punk is perfect for kicking your teeth in. There’s a raw barrage of emotion that feels like crawling out a tunnel and basking in the sun for the first time in months.

Rasping guitars and driving percussion form the basis of how Youth Decay take throaty vocals and harshly drape them on a mix of melodic punk and hardcore. “Landslide” and “Balance” are perfect examples of this. Dynamic and singalong anthems surely meant to start pit-fires, which comes as no surprise given the experience of each member in the punk community. It’s awesome how poppy they make the songs too, despite the fury of almost all tracks on tap. “Hysteria” is another example of this as the record opens with a 1-2-3 punch that’s to die for.

Then there’s the more hardcore punk aspect of things in “Slow Clap” and”Put It Off” to highlight just how versatile the band is and how much they can pull from the individual essence of each member. “Living In My Head” is a slower burn (like a more punk Restorations) to keep flipping the script on one of the most relentless listens this year. The collection of songs here never lets up and each jam feels so fleshed out and well-drawn as the title track scrapes at you with a PUP/Gaslight Anthem flavor. This is one of the most diverse and hard-hitting records I’ve heard in years. A contender for record of the year. Perfection. There’s so much to take in and it’s worth it.

5 / 5 Stars