Cult of Youth – Love Will Prevail

After a little over a year, CULT OF YOUTH come back with their second album for the Sacred Bones Records label. Love Will Prevail offers a challenging combination of both post-punk and folk rock.

It’s challenging, yes, but at the same time many of these songs are surprisingly inviting. Some, on the other hand, are not as easy to endorse if medieval sounding neo-folk isn’t particularly your thing. And that’s okay, because obviously stuff like this isn’t dropping left and right, but that’s what also makes Love Will Prevail special in its own right. In fact, Sean Ragon and Cult of Youth kind of made this stuff difficult not to endorse no matter how intense and ferocious things gets. Take a track like “A New Way (Version),” which quickly opens with the warming chords of Ragon’s acoustic guitar. Glowing piano washes curiously decorate around each corner, eventually leading us into a whirlwind of gritty noise and brass to close it out.

This is followed by the six minute suite “New Old Ways,” which shows off an interesting progression. It begins with breezy acoustic guitars and a nature-esque backdrop, carefully guiding us into the primal, swaying rhythm. We’re led through the track by some dirty lead guitars and Ragon’s snarling slur as it all begins to pile on, slowly but surely making a heavier sound. As it all unfolds, the track slowly morphs into a haunting tribal affair, filled out with sweeping effects and murky, ominous brass combining into a provoking daze.

The album is still filled with highlights like “Man and Man’s Ruin,” “Golden Age,” or “Path of Total Freedom,” the latter of which is a short and rowdy fist-in-air anthem that so perfectly fits this rugged sound. But aside from these, a dire track like “Garden of Delights” might not be as easily swallowed. It comes on with a harsh swarm of wild electronics that wraps around the majority of the song, leaving the stomping rhythm and Ragon’s roaring growl to lead us to the end. But when it’s all said and done, you still need to listen to this stuff. As far as this year goes, Love Will Prevail is one of a kind, so check these songs from the album below.

Man and Man’s Ruin –

Golden Age –

A New Way (Version) –

Path of Total Freedom –

Genre/ Tags: Folk, Post-Punk
Love Will Prevail LP: Tracklist:
1.) Man and Man’s Ruin
2.) Golden Age
3.) Price of Peace
4.) Garden of Delights
5.) A New Way (Version)
6.) New Old Ways
7.) Path of Total Freedom
8.) The Gateway
9.) To Lay With the Wolves
10.) It Took a Lifetime

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Related Posts:
Cult of Youth s/t LP (Sacred Bones)
Find Cult of Youth in our Top 25 LPs of 2011