Year Of The Knife – No Love Lost (Review)

For any touring band, there is probably nothing worse than being involved in an accident. That’s exactly what happened to Year of the Knife this June. During a serious car accident all members were injured. Singer Madison Watkins was injured so badly that she is still recovering and is lucky to be alive. Keep on fighting Madi!

Despite the current situation, there is good news on the horizon. Year of the Knife are back with their new album No Love Lost. 22 minutes filled with brutality and raw hardcore.

Modern hardcore has been strongly inspired by death metal in recent years. Year of the Knife are no strangers to extreme metal and even sound like a pure death metal band in some moments on their new record. No Love Lost feels organic and refreshing. Kurt Ballou has once again done a great job with the production.

“Sometimes” is a perfect opener. Murderous riffs, paired with a groovy, yet fast rhythm act like a blow with a sledgehammer in the face. 

“Wish” and “Last Laught” clearly show how much the band has been influenced by other genres aside from hardcore. The fast-driven pacing of the songs almost feels like power violence tracks. Which is certainly also due to the support of Dylan Walker (Full of Hell). In general, the guest parts are very well chosen and perfectly into No Love Lost as a whole. Devin Swank (Sanguisugabogg) also does a phenomenal job on the track “Wish“.

Guitarist Aaron Kisielewski is a real highlight of the album with his multitude of really good and tight riffs. “You Control” has that tasty groove where you would love to jump wildly through your room.  It almost seems like a nu metal riff mixed with dissonant parts.

Despite the compact running time of the record, variety is provided. “Mourning the Living” is the most Death Metal song the band has ever written. The European influences like Entombed and Grave cannot be denied. The riffs and blast beats speak for themselves.

The countless mosh parts will surely please fans of the band. But the breakdown during “Heaven Denied” is perhaps the heaviest shit I’ve heard this year. Holy cow, if you’re not freaking out during this part, there’s something wrong with you! Other than that, it’s maybe my favourite on the current album. The bass sounds so good and clean and the band puts every trademark of them from past and more recent releases and mixes them into one song. 

No Love Lost almost feels like the perfect guide for other bands to combine hardcore with death metal. Year Of The Knife found the perfect mixture and created a well-crafted record. One of the best releases in 2023. Don’t sleep on this banger of an album.