Youdash sent a bunch of these promo CDs out ages ago and I’m reliably informed that Russian recipients got theirs before I did. I can only hope it’s because the postal staff in the UK were having a crafty listen to this rather good debut album.
Hailing from Poland, Youdash is made up of a bunch of mates who’ve been playing in some form or another since the late 1990’s. As Youdash they have released two EPs – in 2012 and 2013 – but have now decided to drop a very heavy full-length album on us consisting of seven original tracks and a cover. I can relate to the band, too – they’re doing this because they love it, not to make a living from it. Youdash is their hobby. Like all of us working on the Moshville Times, they have “real” jobs that cover the costs (tattoo artist, accountant, psychologist and building company manager) while they take to metal out of sheer passion.
The band have obviously taken a lot of time over this album, and the end result if well worth their efforts. Production is top notch with every instrument coming through nice and clearly, without any reduction in heaviness. Stylistically, the band are death metal with a hint of the melodic and progressive (guest keyboards and samples come from VX The Mind Ripper). Overall, though, it’s just damn heavy.
The song titles have an astronomical theme, but the sci-fi overtones in terms of samples and so forth are subtle and atmospheric – they’re most obvious in “Celestial Phenomena” which otherwise is a song that takes no prisoners with some incredibly fast segments backed with slow, plodding headsmashing ones.
“Deathstar” opens sounding more like southern/stoner, blasts through a prog beginning then descends into noisy death chaos. This is fairly typical of all of the songs, which draw from a huge variety of sources of and styles. In a way, it actually keeps you on your toes while you’re listening to the album.
The band save the best for last (twice) – “Force Guide” the closing song written by the band is an absolute belter. Fast-paced and violent, it’s a song sent to destroy moshpits… and yet it still has a few slow breaks to allow you to regain your strength. The actual final track is a cover of Acid Drinkers’ “Strip Tease” which definitely sounds different from the rest of the album without being a straight rip of the original.
A final note – top marks to Rafał Wechterowicz for the wonderful artwork – it reminds me of some great comic covers of old!
Header image by RG Fotograf.
