YAITW 
When Life Comes To Death 

Deathwish Inc 2014

North Carolina's ultimate gods of blackened crust (or is it crusty black metal?), Young And In The Way have returned with what is so far for me, the album of the year.  When Life Comes To Death sees them turning even more black metal than ever before, however they still manage to throw some true surprises our way.  Starting with the corrosive riffs of Betrayed By Light you are immediately stabbed in the throat by the sheer violence of the music.  The riffs simmer with menace while the vocals are totally caustic.  A frothing groove sets in and tunnels through the first half of the track before a freezing, slow segment and chilling piano close out the song.  Fuck This Life explodes with a terrifyingly cold black metal riff that leaves your ears frostbitten.  The relentless aggression of the track leaves you exhausted but you manage to catch your breath as the momentum collapses across a riff that brings to mind Brave Murder Day era Katatonia.  Once again your skull is set on fire as Be My Blood absolutely sprays fiery venom and speed at you.  Violent black metal riffs stream at you like a thousand machine guns and I detect a slight nod to some of the Swedish legends in the stylistic aspects of the guitarwork here.  Celtic Frost-esque riffs absolutely crush you beneath their steely strength on We Are Nothing.  I love the way the main riff drags and warps as it ends.  This song has near melodic accents throughout that remind me in some ways of Dissection's cold influence.  Taking me completely by surprise is the acoustic, synth heavy track, Shadow Of Murder.  It possesses a cold, barren mood that fills you with desolation and the vocals sound especially tormented by pain and internal conflict.  The final track, Embrace Extinction, puts on full display YAITW's black metal worship.   Nordic riffs blast across the fabric of the song while the drums hammer away mercilessly.  A midtempo passage with icy guitars rises and then is overwhelmed by meaty, chugging riffs.  A mournful melodic lead sweeps in and the ushers in a set of monstrous, hateful riffs and pulsing drums.  The final minute of the track becomes somewhat amorphous as the guitars squeal, the drums lose their footing and the synth adds a forlorn quality to the track.  YAITW have had a special place in my heart for some time now, but with their new album they have taken it to a whole new level.  The songwriting has been perfected and honed into a deadly weapon of freezing emotion and deadly violence.  When Life Comes To Death is a ferocious beast of murderous rage and hostility replete with acidic vocals, malicious drums and savage riffs.