Young Turks – Where I Rise (2013) Is Not For The Faint Of Heart (Review)

Holy shit! I love it when this happens. When you’ve never heard of a band, half expecting to be disappointed, and then, almost from the beginning of the opening of the first track on the album or EP or whatever, you’re blown out of the water by the band’s pure awesomeness.

True story. This is exactly what happened to me when I put on the new EP, Where I Rise, from Young Turks. I also had the very misleading cover art to help encourage my negative expectations; seriously it’s a pretty crappy album cover that’ll have you thinking you put on some sounds of “raindrops” to help you fall asleep.

But then I read a little about Portland, Oregon’s Young Turks and discovered that Where I Rise “is a declaration of life moving forward, while trying to let go of the past… but not without a painful reminder of what once was.” Where Young Turks’ previous full-length, Where I Lie, dealt with themes of betrayal and hopelessness, the new EP dives into finding the strength and power to overcome your hardships and endure them.

Shoving Young Turks Into a Genre

Hardcore. Pretty simple. It’s in your face. It’s violent. And it’ll get you into the pit, bleeding like a motherfucker. But what I really, really like about Young Turks and the Where I Rise EP is the Thrash Metal elements. The first three songs of this EP are shredders, and it’s a nice reprieve when “Old Gods” finally come on. It starts off all dreamy and shit, before escalating into some ’90s mid-tempo grunge, but half way through the slow build is done and we’re back to the stuff that makes go, “Holy shit, this is brutal.”

Where I Rise will be available on November 5th on both 7″ vinyl and digitally

Where I Rise track list:

Territo(royally) Pissed
Zone K
Roe vs Wade vs Westbrook
Old Gods

The Verdict:

Buy this. It's that simple. You will not regret getting Where I Rise. It's raw, it's real, and it's well crafted hardcore punk. Truth be told, this four-track EP puts a lot of other bands to shame. I also think that, just by hearing Young Turks, that they would be a killer and intense act to see live.