Note to self and anyone listening: PLAY LOUD! It’s been described as sonic warfare, and that’s exactly what it is. Formed in 1985, The Young Gods are a Swiss electronic rock band whose influence reigns over such heavyweights as Bowie and Mike Patton. What they do is electronic guitar-driven heavy load dropped on the listener in pulsating heavy doses endlessly shifting from genre to genre, thus making them difficult to pigeonhole and defying labelling.

The album kicks off with the title track, with a sense of cool, calm and collected aggression with the riff overriding as it punches through. Sure, there are moments of stylistic similarities to bands like NiN, but it reaches further. Industrial textures, post punk edges, and softly spoken verses, it’s the air of confidence that really draws you in.

I hope you’re sitting comfortably as the stunning ‘Blue Me Away’, I’m also going to cite U2 around the time of the big Lemon as well, it certainly got elements of that majestic period about this, albeit a darker edge. ‘Hey Amour’ is a slow burner that has sharp guitar breaks with crackling overdriven solos, a twitching and pulsating bassline.

The first half of the album is drawn to a conclusion with the twitching thumping hum of ‘Blackwater’, an impressive track that is widescreen post punk spreading its wings over almost six minutes.

Opening the second half of the album, ‘Tu En Ami Du Temps’ finds me in a style I’m not familiar with, something of a trip hop vib,e reminding me of a few bands I came across in the early 90s like Tricky. Odd noises and underpinned by static and sampling, again the best way to describe the territory we’re in is a widescreen soundscape.

In contrast, ‘Intertidal’ finds me in Portishead or Massive Attack meets a softer Trent Reznor territory electronic ambience with shimmering soundscapes and loose guitars chopping away in the distance.

Penultimate track ‘Shine That Drone’ has a pulsating droning synth line before heading off into some heavy alt-rock territory, the guitars slash along to the metronomic percussion. With the album brought to its end, ‘the band have one last dark message to impart in the form of ‘Off The Radar’ seems very much in the latter day Bowie territory. The production is excellent and draws you in, but it’s an album that demands you give it your full attention and preferably in the dark and played loudly.

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Author: Dom Daley