This album should almost carry a government health warning, “The sonic journey you are about to take, will seek out and find the darkest reaches of your psyche.” Believe me this is dark, dark but not bleak or depressing, oppressive yes. We are about to be taken on a tour of hells darker chambers rather than a confrontation with a soul “Who hates himself and wants to die.” An album that opens with a track named after some fucked up Tibetan cult that are known as the Brothers of the Shadow and are living men but possessed by some strange life force, is only heading in one direction and it isn’t a rendezvous with all things bright and beautiful. The other eight track titles all contain at least one reference to: dark, night, black, sleep, shadows, dead and fading. This certainly isn’t a piece that you would listen to as a pre-cursor to a celebratory event.
Youngteam are a Swedish quartet and this is the follow up to their first album, the critically acclaimed daydreamer. They have also featured heavily on Northern Star Records’ eclectic mix of compilation albums over the last few years. ‘Piece’ is probably the best way to describe it, it is progressive without being ‘prog’, and conceptual without being a concept album. It feels like a single flowing movement rather than nine individual songs, with the unsettling indecipherable vocals mixed as an extra instrument, deep and phased into the mix. The opening number “Dugpas” sets the tone for the nebulous journey ahead, with its darkly gothic feel. The mood is temporarily lifted with the following “It’s Getting Dark”, an almost traditional rock track with its bright rhythm guitar and soaring lead guitar creating a brief respite from the cavernous opener, but even then it’s a million miles away from a ‘hit single’. “Black Rider” and “Dead Sun” sound almost 93 million miles (from the sun) away as they create the wall of noise in the same vein as their Northern Star records label mates. “Into Light” opens up like the wayward cousin of Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, as the rhythm plays that distinctive introduction, but it soon turns into another journey to the end of the night as the layered vocals fade and climb and the ending has a fuzzed up solo that is pure genius. Without some kind of restraint and the use of the elemental forces as a nuance rather than an oppressive assault, then this album could have easily turned into another attempt at being the next loveless (my bloody valentine) or Loop’s “Gilded Eternity”. The Swedish refer to this as “lagom” (pronounced: law-gum), which in one word without any direct English translation defines their national psyche. The indirect translation means “just the right amount” or “in moderation” and “Fading into Night” benefits immensely from its application.
If you wish to take the epic journey then Youngteam will be headlining the Forthcoming Northern Star Weekender Festival in Brixton, London, on 29th March 2014, come prepared.
Youngteam – Into Light
