Straight-Edge Hardcore band Year Of The Knife (YOTK) has surprise dropped a new EP Dust To Dust today, Thursday 2nd February, via Pure Noise Records (Knocked Loose, State Champs, Drug Church), streaming on all DSPs. The EP is the band’s first new music since the release of their hugely received album Internal Incarceration which was released in August 2020. The three-song EP, ‘Dust To Dust’, was produced and engineered by, Taylor Young, (Nails, God’s Hate, Twitching Tongues) clocking in at just seven minutes, of raw, ferocious music. The band has launched a pre-order for the vinyl version of the album. Stream the EP now, and pre-order the vinyl.
Stream and Pre-order the vinyl here:
https://purenoiserecs.lnk.to/YOTKmusic
“Being straight edge is something that has always connected and driven the band, and that is still heavily present,” vocalist Madison Watkins explains. “Building from that thematic foundation, my lyrics are through the lens of my own experiences and demons.”
Speaking about the new EP, Madison explains, “The Dust to Dust EP is a product of everything we’ve been inspired by since our last record. We used the unexpected downtime to focus all of our energy on writing, and wanted to combine our existing sound with these new influences to push our boundaries and make our most pissed songs yet. This EP is an evolution in the direction of our sound while staying true to the core of our inspiration and values. We recorded with Taylor Young at the Pit in Van Nuys, CA. Everyone clicked right away and found that we had the same direction in mind for the production of the songs. Taylor was incredible to work with, and after admiring so many of his projects (Nails, Twitching Tongues, and Ruckus to name a few), it was great to work with him and hear his input on our music.”
Going into bit more detail on the tracks on ‘Dust To Dust’, Madison breaks down some of their lyrical meaning, “Ctrl+C is about societal pressure to be perfect, and chasing an unattainable goal that is sold by the media. I wrote on my experiences of feeling that I had to sacrifice my body and mind in order to fit what was desired or expected. The lyrics describe the decision to break from those pressures and find yourself whether people like you for it or not. ‘Victim’ is about people that can’t see past themselves and their own problems and pain to empathise with others. We can’t help the hand we are dealt in life, but we can decide what we do with those cards. Some people use their circumstances as an excuse to mistreat and manipulate others, and to garner pity. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Victim’ while listening to a lot of Irate. ‘Dust to Dust’ is about the frustration and pain of loving someone who struggles with addiction, but doesn’t want to get better. This is an agony that can be difficult to understand unless you’ve felt it first hand. It was really heavy to write these lyrics, because there is a lot of guilt associated with the anger I feel. More than anything I empathise and sympathise with addicts, but that understanding doesn’t stop the pain that’s been inflicted either. It’s the first song that we wrote since Internal Incarceration. Aaron had been listening to a lot of Dystopia and crust punk, which drove the fast, aggressive direction of the song.”
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Year Of The Knife will be playing shows in the US this February with Gates To Hell and Sanguisugabogg before returning to the UK and Europe to support Unearth alongside Misery Index. All currently announced live dates below:
YOTK playing with Gates to Hell and Damnations Domain
10th February – Preserving Underground, Pittsburgh, PA
11th February – Portal, Louisville, KY
YOTK playing with Sanguisugabogg, Internal Bleeding and Vomit Forth
23rd February – Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI
24th February – Black Circle Brewing, Indianapolis, IN
25th February – Ottawa Tavern, Toledo, OH
26th February – Ace of Cups, Columbus, OH
YOTK playing with Unearth and Misery Index
1st April – Junkyard, Dortmund, Germany
2nd April – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
3rd April – Backstage, Munchen, Germany
4th April – Crash, Freiburg, Germany
5th April – Dynamo, Eindhoven, Netherlands
6th April – Corporation, Sheffield, UK
7th April – The Warehouse,Leeds, UK
8th April – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
9th April – The Black Lab, Lille, France
10th April – La Machine Du Moulin Rouge, Paris, France
11th April – Im Wizemann, Stuttgart, Germany
12th April – Café Central, Weinhein, Germany
13th April – Gladhouse, Cottbus, Germany
14th April – Zollhaus, Leer, Germany
15th April – AJZ Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
16th April – Barrak Music Club, Ostrava, Czech
17th April – S036, Berlin, Germany
18th April – Bahnhof Pauli, Hamburg, Germany
19th April – Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
20th April – Musikens Hus, Gothenburg, Sweden
21st April – Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm, Sweden