Capital Records
Out Now
Words by Greg Walker
Trigger warning: this article discusses topics of child sexual abuse, attempted suicide, and recovery.
Yungblud is not metal, let’s get that out of the way from the start.
Dominic Harrison’s music may be hyper-popular pop rock, however, Yungblud‘s life experiences, his resultant attitude, and his approach to life and the people around him are metal to the core, embodying the values we consider when we regard ourselves as a metal community. Metalheads can smell a fraud a mile off. We can detect a disingenuous artist and their vapid cheap product for what it is, and we detest the fish that swallow that bait hook, line, and sinker. Yungblud is the real deal. Working virtually alone this time around, the firebrand has realised his best outing yet in Idols, an album that celebrates his influences, but absolutely follows, none.
Admittedly, Yungblud doesn’t need my promotion, but after multiple reels popping up in my feed led to me seeking out interviews with Yungblud/Dom, I felt compelled to look further into his music and what he is about. And how rewarding that was. I came to recognise a young man with an intense consideration for his fans, a man who genuinely thrives on that exchange of joy and bestowing genuine kindness; I discovered a man who speaks with a weight you’d expect from someone much more advanced in years, and I quickly came to respect an individual who has risen to conquer his traumas that have defined and defeated so many others.
The material on Idols is real.
Cherry-picking songs that appealed, I’ll first point out album opener and lead single Hello Heaven, Hello, a sunny start asking “Are you trying? I wanna see the light, do you wanna see the light? Do you wanna feel alive?”; as a package, it’s immediately apparent this isn’t just wordy catchphrases sewn together. A 9-minute epic, Hello Heaven, Hello is constructed of three distinct parts that could be separate songs, the second stanza drenched in late 80s Def Leppard with a hooky soaring chorus and a suitably widdly guitar solo, the third stanza harnessing a classic Oasis sound. I do hope anyone needing the help can find it in Yungblud’s relatable galvanising approach, lyrics carrying weight from a survivor who admits to numerous suicide attempts but has thankfully failed, and is now a guiding light to fellow survivors.
Zombie is a perfect song, both in execution and subject matter. A tip of the hat to nurses and healthcare workers, Dom pulls back the curtain to reveal the mental trauma that RNs are expected to face as an aspect of their jobs. Forced every day to wear a mask similar to victims of abuse just in order to get through, frontline healthcare workers (especially respite, cancer, and palliative care nurses) are often taken for granted and perceived to be more equipped to deal with their own mental health, but in truth are often presented with repeated scenarios that make them more vulnerable than most. Comments from RNs and associated workers under Zombie’s official video on YouTube, featuring an emotionally brilliant performance by actress Florence Pugh, are evidence that Yungblud is making a marked difference in everyday lives.
Dom is incredibly comfortable within the massive vocal range he operates. I’m not talking octaves, although he does hit a brilliantly high note in The Greatest Parade, itself an album highlight, but I refer to the wide scope of deliveries throughout this album. His command of his natural instrument is enviable, top shelf, world-class. Changes seems to stretch Dom’s abilities, but the gravel in his throat proves to be an asset at getting his emotions across. Ghosts is another personal favourite, boasting an addictive chorus, and I can see this being a wonderful live interaction with his audiences.
Outside the brilliant Idols, my research quickly pointed me to Yungblud’s 2023 single Hated, and respectfully I don’t need to hear it again. As brilliantly clever as the lyrical combos are, it is a straight-up confronting account of Dom’s sexual assault as a 7-year-old at the hands of a doctor, nefariously concealed behind a consult room curtain while his mother was in the room, agonisingly oblivious. Hated details his struggle to deal and how the fallout of being honest with his reality had repercussions for his family and friends, exposing them to his ordeal at the same time as the public. There’s no right or wrong way to debrief from such a brutally personal victimisation, but Dom has grown into an astoundingly together young man who has channelled his confusion and pain into an incredibly focused and influential foundation we could all learn a great deal from. This foundation has now delivered a career highlight for Yungblud, a wonderfully diverse album in musicality as well as topic.
Yungblud has inspired and cradled so many people with his openness, his adversity fuelling his music at the same time as helping others to realise they’re not the only one, and that recovery your way in your time is possible. The metal attitude, the punk attitude, the grindcore attitude, the death metal attitude, is that everyone is included, no matter how weird they seem, that our weirdness is what makes us unique and that we are all susceptible but ultimately redeemable. I’ve never felt safer among strangers or more accepted than at a metal gig, talking to a new friend who mirrors my own passion for our music’s emphasis on human moralities.
I’ll close on this – a standout reel I’d watched while researching this review featured a young fan expressing through tears that he’d saved her life, Dom replying with care but positive authority “No lovely, you saved your own life. Maybe the music was the soundtrack, but YOU saved your own life, okay?”, knowingly counselling and giving the power back to her. And it’s this and empowerment that’s at the heart of Idols and allows the material to break barriers and be the soundtrack to reaching our potential, metalhead or otherwise.
For assistance please reach out to:
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (24 hours, 7 days a week) or webchat.
The Sexual Assault Helpline 1800 010 120, 7.30am – 11.30pm, 7 days.
Lifeline Australia 13 11 14 Crisis Support, Suicide Prevention; StandBy Support After Suicide 1300 727 247 (suicide postvention assisting people bereaved or impacted by suicide).
