“All alone in pits of shame, only have yourself to blame.”
When Year Of The Knife emerged into the scene in 2019 with Ultimate Aggression, the already flourishing hardcore scene discovered another conduit focused on expressing visceral emotions surrounding themes of grief, loss, inner darkness and addiction. The raw emotion and power that is heavily correlated with majority of bands involved within the hardcore scene was more than evident in the Delaware-based five piece. This intense sense of impending doom and hopelessness only became more brutal and heavier with the release of their official debut album Internal Incarceration a year later, an exceptional intro to the band’s discography and produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou.
In 2022 however, a surprising change to the roster arose, with the vocalist Tyler Mullen taking the backseat performance-wise, and becoming drummer for Gridiron. Madison Watkins, the bassist of the band, had being given the task of filling in his shoes for their live shows throughout the year. This proved to be a step in the right direction, as Madison’s vocals emitted a gritty, raw emotion that fully made their shows enthralling and captivating, with their opening set at Outbreak Festival being a highlight of their live run in 2022.
Following their tours, this choice has been made permanent, as their new EP Dust to Dustprovides its listener with 7 minutes of pure chaos, brutality, and organised mess, as well as allowing the band to reintroduce themselves.
Just by looking at the EP cover, it’s easy to assume how YOTK have approached this short taster of what’s to come. The haunting, decaying face starting into the void almost as if looking into the listeners soul is reminiscent of a Silent Hill box art. It’s beautifully brutal and serves as a precursor of what lies within Dust to Dust.
As expected, the first few seconds of opener “CTRL+C” cut straight to the chase in terms of the sound, tempo, and subject material. Madison’s vocals are on point, as she continues this exploration of the dark side of the psyche and one’s mental. The raspy and gritty undertones of the vocals are menacingly paired with what one would expect hardcore riffs and breakdowns to sound like. This coherency is nice to see, with the following two cuts “Victim” and title track “Dust to Dust” providing equal fast paced brutality and hefty breakdowns throughout the two- to three-minute-long songs.
Despite the brilliant continuation and exploration of the themes surrounding the EP, the changes within the band’s structure allow for an evolution and experimentation which unfortunately isn’t apparent here. While Dust to Dust is a welcome and solid addition to the band’s discography moving forward, it seems to still latch on to their previous steps, rather than moving forward. It is something that can easily trap YOTK into a comfortability with their current sound, knowing that they are more than capable of raising that sound to new heights, considering the sleight death metal undertones and fast tempos that appear on the EP.
Dust to Dust serves as a hint of what’s yet to come from Year of The Knife. It’s a short yet exceptional listen with great elements within each track. Despite its coherency and excellent vocals, which are a highlight of the project, it also shows room for evolution and improvement, which is something that will definitely be needed in order to avoid the gruelling cycle of repetitiveness some bands face within the hardcore scene.
7/10
Dust to Dust is out February 2nd via Pure Noise Records, and can be streamed here.