Ignorance Never Dies

Already deemed one of the U.K.'s best metallic hardcore bands, Your Demise make a bid for an analogous worldwide billing with their impressive sophomore album, Ignorance Never Dies. Released in 2009 through their British imprint Visible Noise, and later picked up for American distribution by Earache Records, the album is many things that hardcore, almost by definition, is not — most notably, unpredictable. That's right, its songs don't hew religiously to boring genre dictates like maintaining simple arrangements, using only Spartan technique, or abusing rhythmic breakdowns and chorused gang-shouts to beat a dead horse for half-an-hour straight. Rather, they keep the listener interested by shape-shifting constantly, leading to prime examples like the title track (which never quite unleashes its awesome pent-up power), "Feels Like There's Something Dark Inside" (which packs on incisive staccato riffing), and "The Clocks Aren't Ticking Backwards" (which counter-programs intentionally disconcerting off-key melodies). Sure, the quintet also moshes for what it's worth on "Burnt Tongues" and "Dreaming of Believing" (plus, every one of their lyrics invariably tackles personal affronts and societal ills from a supremely offended first person perspective), but even these can sound surprising when mixed in with the surrounding multiplicity. Having said that, the band's occasional detours into electronic trip-hop instrumentals like "Hypochondriac," "Unknown Dub," and "Great Shape" straddle the fine line between curiosity and stupidity, since the average Aphex Twin fan won't be touching this album with a ten foot pole. And even though Your Demise couch most of their other ideas in the lessons handed down by such idols as Hatebreed and Biohazard, their ability to push the envelope just so, while delivering their performance with the utmost self-belief, makes this one of the 2009's most engaging metallic hardcore releases.