ALBUM REVIEW: Obnoxious Youth - Burning Savage

I must admit that when Obnoxious Youth dropped into my inbox, I was rather expecting something akin to some crusty old punk band to be gracing my ears from the speakers, and the task of reviewing album number three was not something I was feeling a huge amount of relish in undertaking. So, when eventually, and rather reluctantly I pressed play on the death deck, I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there was a punklike feel and energy to the music and definitely a dirty crustiness to the sound, but there’s a fair bit more to this bunch of Swedish/Finnish veterans than I had lazily assumed.

Burning Savage doesn’t hang around, and with 12 tracks and clocking in at just over 36 minutes, it flies by, covering numerous styles and sounds, with the unique, evil character of the band the only consistent element. Take the atmospheric keyboard intro Alpha Diabolos which has a Merciful Fate/King Diamond feel but leads straight into the blackened Motörhead worship of Imminent Evil.  This sort of juxtaposition occurs throughout the brief length of the album, it almost becomes like metal bingo, picking out the different genres and influences. 

If I’m sounding a bit critical, it’s not intentional, I’m merely highlighting the diversity and range of the material presented. The album centrepiece is the Sabbath influenced Torrents of Black Blood, and when I say influenced, that intro sounds more like a cover version, and at almost 6 minutes long it is easily the longest track, with its huge riffs and evil aura. To be fair after the intro it does go its own way for much of its duration. Ultra Death evokes Halloween (the film soundtrack) before heading off into eighties speed metal territory. 

Vocalist Affe” Phantasma” Piran is probably the main reason that the band sound like no one else despite their shape shifting musical persona, but the inventive and chaotic riffs and leads from the guitars of John ”Zeke” Finne and Lukas ”Spine” Häger must also take huge credit, while the thumping rhythm section of bassist, and lovingly monikered, Edde ”Shit” Aftonfalk and drummer Frans ”Cult” Utterström, keep everything suitably nailed down. The brilliantly titled Bitchkrieg (does that translate to ‘lightening whore’ maybe?!) bangs along like an outhouse door in a storm, while closer Omega Therion experiments with futuristic synths and a more open structure to great effect. 

All in all, this is a very agreeable album that is an entertaining way of filling a spare half an hour or so. I can’t say it’s an album that is going to trouble my album of the year list though, as its chaotic and diverse nature, whilst being its main strength is also its main weakness, there’s certainly much on offer; speed, black, death, thrash, crust, grind, and more and the variety in the song writing makes it as diverting as it is enjoyable, but I would certainly recommend giving it a spin as there is bound to be something here to tickle your fancy.

Burning Savage is released on 18th October via Svart Records

Review by Gareth Pugh