Cult Of Youth’s third album for Brooklyn label Sacred Bones is brutal. Sean Ragon remains the gothic punks’ central figure, but here he is part of a five-piece band. On opener ‘Todestrieb’, strings creak over hollow drums and a frightening whipping sound, while ‘Dragon Rouge’ refers to “angels calling” as an acoustic riff is butchered by distant shouting and dissonant feedback. The guitar on ‘Roses’ suffers a similar fate but there is variation elsewhere: ‘Empty Faction’’s jittery motorik sounds like Can on fast-forward and ‘Of Amber’ offers seven minutes of hazy respite. ‘Sanctuary’ sums up ‘Final Days’ best, a nine-minute odyssey of guttural vocals, noise and melody.
Ben Homewood