THE COLOR OF VIOLENCE "Youthanize" (Epitaph) Review by Jordan A. Baker
I'm not sure why Epitaph would want to release a screamo/dance/grind project that sounds like it was hastily culled together conceptually on a message board, rather than by actual breathing musicians, but perhaps it has to do with the collective material worth of a band featuring current members of the popular act FROM FIRST TO LAST. Youthanize is the essence of a "paper tiger" release when it comes to heavy music. Sure, THE COLOR OF VIOLENCE are loud, but not only is there no bite to the noise, the band is so comically uninteresting to listen to that there's simply no heart behind this. Atonal screaming, and flat guitars overshadow the crafty stickwork of drummer Derek Bloom. "Crafty stickwork" is about as much of a compliment that I'm willing to put out on this 30 minute album. Bands like NUMBER 12 LOOKS LIKE YOU, SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY, and especially UNITED NATIONS, with last year's tremendous S/T put a firm stamp on this hybrid, hard to pin down genre, and by comparison, I'm not sure THE COLOR OF VIOLENCE even measures a tick on the novelty scale. Guh.
