Youngblood Supercult - The Great American Death Rattle (2017)

The band's debut last year was a positive surprise with its soulful stoner rock and dark occult themes. The only problem was that the lyrics were a bit repetitive and cliché. On the sequel that was just released the final puzzle pieces has fallen into place and the band has created an album that can't be described as anything but brilliant.

There's an underlying melancholic atmosphere mixed with boiling fury. A collection of dirges dedicated to something that has been forever lost. The title speaks volumes. It's like a musical road story through the American landscape from east to west. Through desolate towns, past scarred and worn faces, past the abandoned coal mines and foreclosed houses.

Sound wise the album is deeply rooted in Black Sabbath's 1970s, something that is also reflected in the beautiful album cover, but Youngblood Supercult still succeeds in feeling contemporary. David Merrill's unique voice is a great asset. He sings almost cautiously with an undercurrent of emotions, yet powerfully and perfectly matching the riffs and the rhythms. The contrast that occurs is electrical.

"The Great American Death Rattle" is an album that that grabs hold of me from the very start and takes me on a journey both emotionally and musically. One of the greatest releases in the genre so far this year.