Posted in Whathaveyou on January 27th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Eugene, Oregon’s YOB doing pretty much anything is good news as far as I’m concerned. “YOB are a band on this planet” continues to be something to have in your existential back pocket on hard days. Thus it is that even though they’re not hitting the East Coast on the newly announced stints they’ve lined up for March and May — they’ll be on the West Coast and in Europe, respectively, ahead of an appearance at Fire in the Mountains in Wyoming this July — I’m not going to complain. I saw YOB in Brooklyn last Spring (review here) and it was glorious. Maybe they’ll be back this way in the Fall, or maybe some other time. Once again, YOB are a band on this planet. Realizing this is only ever a positive feeling.
2018’s Our Raw Heart (review here) is streaming at the bottom of this post. Take a few minutes out of your day and rejoice. It’s a long week ahead.
From the PR wire:
YOB: Announce 2020 US & European Tour Dates
Critically acclaimed cosmic trio YOB have announced 2020 US & EU tour dates launching this Spring. US dates kick off on March 19 in Sacramento, CA and ends March 28 in Boise, ID. Beginning May 20, YOB returns to Europe in Dresden, DE and ends May 30 in Karlsruhe, DE at Dudefest.
Additionally, YOB will perform at Fire in the Mountains as part of the ‘On Wings Over Utgard’ showcase, curated by Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved. Tickets are available at https://www.yobislove.com/tour.
YOB Tour Dates:
Mar 19 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s Mar 20 Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst Mar 21 Oakland, CA @ Metro Mar 22 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex Mar 23 San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick Mar 24 Tucson, CA @ Club Congress Mar 25 Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Mar 26 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater Mar 27 Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell Mar 28 Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
May 20 Dresden, DE @ Chemiefabrik May 21 Hannover, DE @ Cafe Glocksee May 23 Rouen, FR @ Le 106 May 24 Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Kulturfabrik May 25 Munich, DE @ Strom May 27 Groningen, NL @ Vera May 28 Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar May 29 Dortmund, DE @ Junkyard May 30 Karlsruhe, DE @ Dudefest
Jul 10-12 Moran, WY @ Fire In The Mountains
YOB’s Our Raw Heart is out now on CD/LP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical packages are available via Relapse.com HERE and Digital Downloads / Streaming Services HERE.
YOB is: Mike Scheidt – Guitar, Vocals Aaron Rieseberg – Bass Travis Foster – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 12th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
So the deal is that within the span of three months YOB are going to be out on tour with Voivod and then Neurosis? Sounds like it’s a damn good year to be YOB. Well earned, of course, what with the universal acclaim that greeted 2018’s Our Raw Heart (review here), and the fact that, uh, they’re incredible. The Voivod dates — they’re also with Amenra, lest they be left out — were previously announced, but I wanted to include them here as well, both because that tour is badass and because it emphasizes how much YOB have long since become a full-on, full-time act over the last however many years. “Oh, they’re hitting the road for a month in the States and then doing fests in Europe? Yeah, that’s how it goes.” One remembers it being a novelty that they were leaving Oregon at all.
But then, one is old as hell, so there you go.
From the PR wire:
YOB: Announce Summer European Tour Dates w/ Neurosis
Oregon’s cosmic trio YOB return to Europe this summer opening for doom metal legends Neurosis. The tour begins July 11 in Alperstedt, DE and ends July 26 in Gdasnk, PL. All confirmed tour dates are listed below.
YOB are touring in support of their critically acclaimed album Our Raw Heart.
“We are deeply honored to be supporting Neurosis in Europe this Summer. We’ve said it before and will say it again: collectively, they are our favorite band. We cannot wait for these shows, to play for people who are in attendance, and watch Neurosis every night. It can’t get better than that.”
YOB’s Our Raw Heart is out now on CD/LP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical packages are available via Relapse.com HERE and Digital Downloads / Streaming Services HERE.
YOB Spring Tour w/ Voivod & Amenra: 03.26 Minneapolis MN Fine Line 03.27 Chicago IL Thalhia Hall 03.28 Columbus OH Ace of Cups 03.29 Cleveland OH Grog Shop 03.30 Toronto ON Phoenix 03.31 Buffalo NY Town Ballroom 04.02 Portland ME Geno’s 04.03 Boston MA Royale 04.04 Brooklyn NY Warsaw 04.05 Philadelphia PA Union Transfer 04.06 Richmond VA Broadberry 04.07 Raleigh NC Kings 04.09 Knoxville TN Concourse (Co-presented with American Icon) 04.10 Atlanta GA Masquerade / Hell 04.11 New Orleans LA One Eyed Jack’s 04.12 Houston TX Warehouse Studios 04.13 Austin TX Barracuda 04.14 Dallas TX Gas Monkey 04.16 Denver CO Marquis Theater* 04.18 Mesa AZ Club Red+ 04.19 San Diego CA Brick by Brick w/ Monolord+ + = YOB only * = no Voivod
YOB Tour Dates: Jul 11 Rome, IT @ Ostia Antica Roman Amphitheater * Jul 12 Milan, IT @ Carroponte * Jul 13 Dour, BE @ Dour Festival * Jul 14 Bern, CH @ Dachstock * Jul 16 Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo * Jul 17 Biarritz, FR @ Atabal * Jul 18 Paris, FR @ Bataclan * Jul 19 Birmingham, UK @ Supersonic Festival + Jul 20 London, UK @ 02 Forum Kentish Town + Jul 23 Vienna, AT @ Arena * Jul 24 Budapest, HU @ Durer Kert * Jul 25 Berlin, DE @ Festival Kreuzberg * Jul 26 Warsaw, PL @ Progresja * Jul 27 Gdansk, PL @ B90 * * w/ Neurosis + w/ Neurosis & Godflesh
YOB is: Mike Scheidt – Guitar, Vocals Aaron Rieseberg – Bass Travis Foster – Drums
Posted in Features on December 20th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2018 to that, please do.
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It just wouldn’t be a year if it wasn’t completely overwhelming, right?
2018 has certainly met that standard and then some. The swath of output, whether it’s a new generation adopting and adapting established methods or out and out reinventing the stylistic wheel and then pushing it uphill on a seemingly endless barrage of tours, has been staggering, and it’s still happening. There’s a little more than a week to go in the year. You think a band isn’t putting something out today? Of course they are. It’s every day. It’s all the time.
But this year wasn’t just about quantity either. I think one of my biggest struggles in writing about albums in 2018 — and with the last Quarterly Review and various premieres and video posts that were basically album reviews in disguise, let’s estimate we’re somewhere past 300 records reviewed one way or another — was in conveying just how killer so much of the stuff coming through was. How many times can you say the word “awesome?” Well, I’m sure we’ll see it a few more times before this list is over, so there you go.
I say something like this every time I do a list, but please keep in mind these are my picks and I’m one person. But I am a person. I know there’s the whole internet-anonymity thing, but I assure you, I’m a human being (more of a cave troll, really) typing these words. I’m all for everyone sharing their own picks in the comments, and all for passionate advocating, but please, let’s keep it civil and respectful. These things can spiral out of control quickly, but let’s remember that we’re all human beings and worth of basic courtesy, even if some of us are dead wrong about a good many things. You should definitely punch nazis, though.
Thanks in advance for reading. Here we go:
[UPDATE: You’ll notice the inclusion of an ’18a.’ I had Stoned Jesus in my notes as number 18 initially and they got dropped as I was adjusting things along the way. I’ve added them back in, but it didn’t seem fair to bump everyone else down after the post had already been published. That was the best I could come up with for a solution. If you’re pissed about one more killer record being added, please feel free to email me and tell me all about it.]
Chicago’s The Skull had no small task before them in following up their 2014 debut, For Those Which are Asleep (review here) — let alone living up to their pedigree — but their second album demonstrated a creative growth that sacrificed nothing of memorability when it came to songs like “Breathing Underwater” and “All that Remains (Is True).” They got down to work and got the job done, which is what a working band does. 2018 was by any measure a fantastic year for doom, and The Skull were a big part of why.
The Dec. 2017 murder of Rev. Jim Forrester was tragic. No other way to say it. Foghound, who were in the midst of making Awaken to Destroy at the time, put together an album that not only features Forrester‘s last recorded performance, but pays respect to his memory while the wound is still raw and manages to kick ass all the while. It’s a record that can’t ever be divorced from its circumstances — just can’t — and so it can be a heavy listen in more than just its tones, but it’s basically Foghound proving they’re unstoppable. And so they are.
Who among us here today is not a sucker for Orange Goblin? Come forward an be judged. I mean, really. Nine records deep, the London sceneforgers are nothing less than an institution, beloved by boozehounds, riffhounds, doomhounds, and really, a wide variety of hounds the world over. Also dudes. With its essential title-track hook and highlight cuts in “Ghosts of the Primitives” and “Burn the Ships” — or, you know, any of them — they added to one of heavy’s most unshakable legacies with an album as furious as it is welcoming to its generations-spanning fanbase.
There are two kinds of people in this world, and they’re both Fu Manchu fans. Clone of the Universe turned heads with a guest appearance from Rush‘s Alex Lifeson on the 18-minute side-B-consuming “Il Mostro Atomico,” but really to focus on that instead of “Intelligent Worship,” “(I’ve Been) Hexed,” “Don’t Panic,” “Slower than Light,” etc., is only seeing half the point of the album in the first place. The long-running lords of fuzz hit a new stride with 2014’s Gigantoid (review here), and Clone of the Universewas in every way a worthy successor.
It was an unenviable task before Witch Mountain in replacing vocalist Uta Plotkin, but founding guitarist Rob Wrong and drummer Nathan Carson found the right voice in Kayla Dixon and solidified the lineup with her and bassist Justin Brown enough to make a declarative statement in Witch Mountain‘s self-titled LP. That’s the story of it. They pulled it off. Met with what was unquestionably a bummer circumstance, they pushed through and moved their sound forward through a new beginning — and not their first one. Watch out when their next record hits.
Richmond, Virginia, doomers Windhand‘s second collaboration with producer Jack Endino produced a marked and purposeful expansion of their sound, encompassing classic grunge influences and a heavy psychedelic swirl that added color their previously-greyscale sonic haze. Resonant in tone and emotionalism, Eternal Return readjusted Windhand‘s trajectory in such a manner that, where one might’ve thought they knew where the band were headed in terms of their progression, they’ve made themselves a less predictable outfit on the whole. For that alone, it’s a triumph. Then you have the songs.
I don’t even want to admit how long I was waiting for Sun Voyager‘s first long-player to show up, but when it finally did, the New York trio did not disappoint. Catchy, energetic, fuzzed-out tunes with driving rhythms and a heavy psych flourish, they tapped into shoegaze and desert vibes without losing any sense of themselves in the process, and if the extra wait was so they could be so remarkably coherent in their expression on their full-length, then I wouldn’t want it to have shown up any sooner. An easy pick to stand among 2018’s best debut albums. Now to wait for the next one.
It should tell you something that after working quickly to produce three albums, Louisiana’s Forming the Void are still defined by their potential. If I had my druthers, I’d put the recent Ripple signees on tour for the bulk of 2019, across the US and in Europe for festivals and support-slot club shows, really give them an opportunity to hammer out who they are as a band and then hit the studio for LP four. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but they’d only be doing the universe a favor by kicking into that gear. As it stands, their progression is palpable in their material and they stand absolutely ready for whatever the next level might be for them.
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22. Spaceslug, Eye the Tide
Released by BSFD Records and Oak Island Records. Reviewed June 29.
Aside from the speed at which Spaceslug have turned around offerings — with Eye the Tide following 2017’s Mountains and Reminiscence EP (review here) and Time Travel Dilemma (review here) full-length and their 2016 debut, Lemanis (review here) — the Polish outfit have undertaken significant progression in their sound, moving from pure heavy psychedelic warmth to incorporating elements out of extreme metal as they did on Eye the Tide. Adding to the latest record’s accomplishment is the smoothness with which they brought seemingly opposing sides together, only adding depth to an approach already worthy of oceanic comparison.
Conan‘s reign of terror has been unfolding for more than a decade now, and each of their albums has become a kind of step along a path of incremental growth. Consider the melody creeping into the shouts of founding guitarist Jon Davis, or the emergence of bassist Chris Fielding as a vocal presence alongside, the two sharing a frontman role more than ever before while welcoming drummer Johnny King to the fold of destructive tonality and doomly extremism. Existential Void Guardian may end up just being another stomp-print on their way to the next thing, but it affirmed the fact that as much as Conan grow each time out, their central violence continues to hold sway.
Look. A new Pale Divine record doesn’t come along every day, so yeah, their self-titled was probably going to be on my list one way or the other, but it definitely helps that not only was it their first outing in six years since 2012’s Painted Windows Black (review here), but it had the songs to live up to a half-decade-plus of anticipation. It marked the first studio appearance from bassist/backing vocalist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis alongside guitarist Greg Diener and drummer Darin McCloskey — now both of Beelzefuzz as well — and made a strong argument for how much Pale Divine deserve more than 20 years on from their initial demo to be considered classic American doom.
The return and rise to prominence of Washington pure heavy rockers Mos Generator might be the underground’s feelgood story of the decade, but it hasn’t by any means been easily won. In addition to rebuilding the band however many albums ago, guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed has put in innumerable hours on tour and worked to actually develop the group creatively in addition to in terms of stage presence. This is shown throughout some of the classic prog elements making their way onto Shadowlands, and perhaps some of the collection’s moodier aspects are born of the aforementioned road time as well. Hard for that kind of thing not to be a slog after a while, but at least they have killer tunes to play.
The only safe bet about Stoned Jesus‘ fourth long-player, Pilgrims, was that it was going to sound different than the third. That 2015 outing, The Harvest (review here), preceded the band touring to celebrate the fifth anniversary and after-the-fact success of 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here), but Pilgrims defied narrative in that instead of incorporating elements from the second record in more of a heavy psych or jam sound, Stoned Jesus instead showcased a tighter, more sureheaded sense of craft than they’ve ever displayed before, and arrived on Napalm Records with a collection of songs that demonstrated the growth and sense of creative will that drives them. While one can take a look at their moniker and think immediately they know what’s coming, Stoned Jesus have made themselves one of the least predictable bands in heavy rock.
“Pirate Smile.” “Lines.” “Whatever.” “It Ain’t Right.” “Threes.” “Cinderella.” “Generals.” “Big Enough.” “Alone.” “Lucky. Mike Cummings, Jessica Baker, Erik Larson. Every player, every song, every minute. If you want to know what heart-on-sleeve sounds like, it fucking sounds like Backwoods Payback. In their line from hardcore punk to grunge to heavy rock, they encompass experiences and emotionalism that are both shown in raw form throughout Future Slum, and build all the while on the chemistry they set out in developing with 2016’s Fire Not Reason (review here), when they welcomed Larson to the lineup on drums and revitalized their mission. Also worth noting, they were the best live band I saw this year. Anywhere.
No question the excitement of C.O.C. putting out their first record with frontman Pepper Keenan involved since 2005’s In the Arms of God was one of this year’s top stories in heavy. And No Cross No Crown tapped directly into the spirit of 1994’s Deliverance (discussed here) and 1996’s Wiseblood (discussed here) in terms of direction, while updating the band’s style with a four-part 2LP in mind. In some ways, it’ll be their next album that really gives listeners a sense of where they’re at and where they might be headed, but as welcome returns go, having Keenan alongside Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman and Reed Mullin is in no way to be understated, and neither is the quality of their output together, then and now.
It is no simple feat to hypnotize an audience and convey serenity while at the same time holding attention with songcraft, so that the listener isn’t actually so much unconscious as malleable of mood and spirit in such a direction as the band suggests. Greek trio Naxatras have worked quickly to become experts at this, and their third full-length fosters tonal warmth and jammy progressions with an overarching naturalism that finds them so committed to analog recording that one can buy direct transfers of the tape master of III. Some acts take classic-style practices as an aesthetic choice. With Naxatras, it seems to be the stuff of life, yet their sound is only vibrant and human in a way that, at least one hopes, is even more representative of the future than the past.
It was time for Clutch to make a change in producers, and the Maryland overlords of groove seemed to know it. Known as a live band, they went with Vance Powell, who’s known a live band producer. The results on Book of Bad Decisions might not have been so earth-shatteringly different from 2015’s Psychic Warfare (review here), which was the too-soon follow-up to 2013’s Earth Rocker (review here) — both helmed by Machine — but the inimitable four-piece indeed succeeded in capturing the electricity of their stage performance and, as ever, treated fans to a collection of songs bearing Clutch‘s unmistakable hallmarks of quirky lyrics, funky rhythms and heavy roll. They may always be a live band, but Clutch‘s studio work is in no way to be discounted, ever, as this record reaffirmed. Plus, crab cakes.
After 2012’s In Dreams and Time (review here), I wasn’t sure Ancestors were going to put out another record. They kicked around word of one for a while, but it wasn’t until the end of last year that it really seemed to congeal into a possibility. And by then, who the hell knew what they might get up to on a full-length? With Suspended in Reflections, in some says, they picked up where they left off in terms of finding a niche for themselves in progressive and melodic heavy, but I think the time showed in the poise of their execution and the control of the material. Suspended in Reflections can’t help but be six years more mature than its predecessor, and that suits its contemplative feel. In tracks like “Gone,” and “The Warm Glow,” they tempered their expansive sound with an efficiency that can only be had with time.
The narrative here was hard to beat. Matt Pike spending an album cycle talking about Lemmy Kilmister and paying homage to his dirt-rock forebear and the gods of old? It doesn’t get much more perfect than that. Electric Messiah was the third collaboration between High on Fire and producer Kurt Ballou behind 2015’s Luminiferous (review here) and 2012’s De Vermiis Mysteriis (review here), and while it seemed after the last record that the formula might be getting stale, the band only sounded more and more lethal throughout the latest offering. Even putting aside their contributions to underground heavy, they’ve become one of the most essential metal bands of their generation. Metal, period. Doesn’t matter what subgenre you’re talking about it. If you’re listening to High on Fire, you know it. Usually because you’ve just been decapitated.
You know, if you take the time to separate Yawning Man from their 30-plus-year history and their legacy as one of the foundational acts of what later became desert rock, and you listen to The Revolt Against Tired Noises, you’re still left with basically a dream of an album. Mostly instrumental, as is their wont, they nonetheless had bassist Mario Lalli (also Fatso Jetson) sing this time around on a version of the previously-unreleased “Catamaran,” which Kyuss covered once upon a whenever although Yawning Man had never officially put it to tape. But really, that and all other novelty aside, guitarist Gary Arce, Lalli and drummer Bill Stinson are a chemistry unto themselves. I don’t know if they’ll ever be as huge as they should be, but every bit of acclaim they get, they’ve earned, and if The Revolt Against Tired Noises helps them get it, all the more so.
Swedish heavy rock mavens Greenleaf have become an entirely different band than they once were. No longer a Dozer side-project from guitarist Tommi Holappa with a rotating cast of players, they’re a solidified, road-tested, powerhouse unit, and Hear the Rivers bleeds soul as a result. Holappa, frontman Arvid Hällagård, bassist Hans Fröhlich and drummer Sebastian Olsson sound like they’re absolutely on fire in the album’s tracks, and far from being staid or formulaic as one might expect a sixth long-player to be, Hear the Rivers built on what the band accomplished with 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow (review here) and came across as all the more vital and nearly frenetic in their energy. I won’t say Greenleaf has seen their last lineup change, because one never knows, but the band as they are today is the realization of potential I don’t think even Greenleaf knew was there.
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10. Gozu, Equilibrium
Released by Blacklight Media / Metal Blade Records. Reviewed April 4.
Five records deep into a career into its second decade, Gozu haven’t had a miss yet. Admittedly, some of their early work can seem formative considering where they are now, but still. And after the 2016 rager, Revival (review here), to have the band return to the same studio — Wild Arctic in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where strides producer Dean Baltulonis — for the follow-up allows for the four-piece to directly show how their sound has grown more encompassing in the last couple years. And it has. Equilibrium is a rich and varied listen that holds true to Gozu‘s well-established penchant for soulful vibes and crunching, hard-hitting riffs and groove, but while it shares the directness of approach with Revival, it makes moves that a band could only make moving from one record to the next. I expect nothing less their next time out as well, because a decade later, that’s Gozu‘s proven track record.
The battle for the best album title of 2018 ended early when New Jersey everything-rockers Monster Magnet announced the release of Mindfucker. And what else to call a Monster Magnet LP at this point? They’ve stopped writing to genre. They’re driven by the creative mania of frontman/founder Dave Wyndorf, and they’ve seen psychedelic expanses and commercial success the likes of which would serve the tenure of four lesser bands. What’s left to do but whatever the hell you want? So that’s what Monster Magnet are doing. It just so happens that while they’re doing it, they’re still basically outclassing the entirety of the former planet earth as songwriters. As Monster Magnet fan in 2018, there was nothing more I could’ve asked than what Mindfucker delivered. And if you’re still trying to get your brain around it however many months later, you’re not alone. I think that’s the idea.
Best doom album of 2018. The combination of craft and passion behind the delivery. The way the dark tones fed into the emotions so clearly on display and sheer presence of it in listening to songs like “Keeping the Lighthouse,” “Ruination by Thy Name” and “My Heart is Leaving Here.” Apostle of Solitude never seem to be the highest profile band out there, but their work seems never to be anything less than outstanding, and I refuse to accept them as anything less than among the most pivotal American acts out there making traditional doom. And not just making it, but making it their own, with a sense of new pursuits and individualism that extends to playing style as well as atmosphere. I know doom isn’t exactly in short supply these days — figuratively or literally — but if you miss out on what Apostle of Solitude are doing with it, you’ll only regret it later. I’ll say it one more time: Best doom album of 2018.
Every now and again, anticipating the crap of an album really pays off, and such was the case with Holy Grove II, the Ripple Music debut from the Portland outfit whose 2016 self-titled (review here) seemed like such a herald of excellence to come while also, you know, being killer. Holy Grove II brought the four-piece of vocalist Andrea Vidal, guitarist Trent Jacobs, bassist Gregg Emley and drummer Eben Travis to entirely new levels of composition and execution. In songs like “Blade Born,” the shorter, sharper “Aurora,” the patiently rolling “Valley of the Mystics,” “Solaris” and closer “Cosmos,” which boasted a not-really-necessary-but-definitely-welcome guest vocal appearance from YOB‘s Mike Scheidt, — and oh wait, that’s all of the tracks — Holy Grove entered a different echelon. Anticipation will likewise be high for Holy Grove III, but it’ll be hard to complain with this record to keep company in the meantime.
Over five All Them Witches albums, the Nashville four-piece have gone from a nascent heavy Americana jam band to one of the most distinct acts in the US underground. Their development in sound is chemistry-driven, so it was a risk when the founding trio of bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod (who also produced) and drummer Robby Staebler welcomed new keyboardist Jonathan Draper into the lineup to take the place of Allan van Cleave. Amid a more naturalist production than that of 2017’s Sleeping Through the War (review here), the revamped four-piece flourished in terms of songwriting and conveying their stage-born sonic personae. From the gleeful fuckery of opener “Fishbelly 86 Onions” to the memorable moodiness of “Diamond” and the back-end jam “Harvest Feast” en route to the stretched-out end of “Rob’s Dream,” All Them Witches essentially confirmed they could do whatever they wanted and make it work.
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5. YOB, Our Raw Heart
Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed June 7.
Actually, if you want a sample of YOB‘s raw heart, the place to go is probably 2014’s Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here), but whatever the Eugene, Oregon, shapers of cosmic doom might’ve lacked in titular accuracy on their eighth long-player, they made up for in a new, statesman-like posture. Their approach was mature, hammered out to a professionalism working completely on its own terms, and they never sounded so sure of who they are as a band or as confident of their direction. In extended cuts “Beauty in Falling Leaves” and “Our Raw Heart,” they explored new and progressive textures and melodies, and managed to reaffirm their core aspects while finding room for conveying emotion that came across as nothing but ultimately sincere. They have been and still are one of a kind, and as they continue to move forward, they remain a band that makes one feel lucky to be alive to witness their work. Our Raw Heart was perhaps more refined than it let on, but the heart was there for sure, as always.
I’m not going to say I wasn’t a fan of the (relatively) harder-hitting approach Brant Bjork and his Low Desert Punk Band took on 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here), but Mankind Woman brought in some more of his soul influences, and whether it was the subtly subversive funk of “Chocolatize” and “Brand New Old Times” or the callout “1968” and laid back vibes of the title-track and “Swagger and Sway,” Bjork — working with guitarist Bubba DuPree on songwriting and production — offered a definitive look at what has made his 20-year solo career so special and demonstrates not only his longevity and his legacy, but his will to continue to progress as an artist honing his craft. His discography is well populated by now to be sure, but Mankind Woman represents a turn from the last couple records, and if it’s in any way portentous of things to come, it bodes well. Bjork is right at home nestled into classic-style grooves, and his legacy as one of the principal architects of desert rock is continually reaffirmed.
They’ve been great, not just good, for a long time now, and as forerunners of the San Diego heavy scene, they’re godfathers to an up and coming generation of bands taking their influence — let alone acts from the rest of the world — but Black Heaven is a special moment for them because of its departure. No, it wasn’t not the first time guitarist Isaiah Mitchell sang on an Earthless recording, but it did represent a tip of the balance in that direction for the band on a studio full-length, and that resulted in a special moment. Album opener “Gifted by the Wind” was one of the best songs I heard this year, and while “End to End” and the all-thrust “Volt Rush” affirmed that more traditional songwriting was well within the grasp of Mitchell, bassist Mike Eginton and drummer Mario Rubalcaba, they still found space for a sprawling jam or two, keeping their claim on the instrumentalism that’s (largely) fueled their tenure to date. Earthless don’t want for acclaim, but every bit of it is earned, and while their primary impact has always been live, Black Heaven saw them construct a traditional-style LP that still bore the hallmarks of their collective personality. It was the best of all worlds.
In the dark early hours of 2018, the Rochester, New York, trio of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson issued the Repeater EP (review here) as a follow-up to their 2016 debut, Orion (review here), so Longing to Be the Mountain didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but even with Repeater preceding its arrival, I don’t think anyone necessary expected King Buffalo‘s second album to have such a scope or to be so engrossing with it. In its melody, patience, atmosphere and heft, it was an absolute joy to behold. Its songs were memorable at the same time they were far-reaching, and while Orion was already my pick for the best debut of 2016, Longing to Be the Mountain realized even more potential than that record had hinted toward. It could be intimate or majestic at its whim, and its dynamic set an individual characterization of heavy psychedelia and blues-style sprawl that the band wholly owned. With production by Ben McLeod of All Them Witches behind them, they worked to serve notice of a progression undertaken the results of which are already staggering and still seem to be looking ahead to the next stage, literally and figuratively. One of the principal standards I use in constructing this list every year is what I listen to most. That’s this record.
Obviously, right? To some extent, when Sleep surprise-announced on April 19 they’d release their first album in 15 years the next day, and then did, they took ownership of 2018. Even with records still to come at that point from YOB and Sleep guitarist Matt Pike‘s own High on Fire, there was no way that when the end of the year came around, it wasn’t going to be defined by the advent of a new Sleep record. And even if it sucked, it would probably still be Album of the Year, but fortunately, as Pike, bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros (also Om) and drummer Jason Roeder (also Neurosis) took their long-running stage reunion to the studio, they brought material that highlighted the best elements from all players. Pike‘s wild soloing, Cisneros‘ meditative vocals and Roeder‘s intricate but smooth style of roll all came together in older pieces like “Antarcticans Thawed” and “Sonic Titan” and newer highlights “Giza Butler” and “Marijuanaut’s Theme,” and aside from the excitement at their existence, they showed the mastery of form that Sleep had been demonstrating live since 2009 and which they hinted toward in the 2014 single, The Clarity (review here). A new Sleep full-length was something long-discussed, long-rumored and long-considered, but when it finally happened, I think the results vaporized expectation in a way no one could’ve anticipated. There’s a reason Sleep are Sleep. Having The Sciences as a reminder of that brought about the defining moment of 2018.
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The Next 20
Indeed, it wouldn’t be much of a Top 30 at all if it didn’t go to 50. Don’t try to make sense of it, just look at the records.
31. Atavismo, Valdeinfierno
32. Grayceon, IV
33. Clamfight, III
34. Seedy Jeezus, Polaris Oblique
35. Megaton Leviathan, Mage
36. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Wasteland
37. Arcadian Child, Superfonica
38. Freedom Hawk, Beast Remains
39. The Machine, Faceshift
40. Messa, Feast for Water
41. Black Rainbows, Pandaemonium
42. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Science Fiction
43. Domkraft, Flood
44. Träden, Träden
45. Mythic Sunship, Another Shape of Psychedelic Music
46. Samavayo, Vatan
47. Foehammer, Second Sight
48. Bongripper, Terminal
49. Mansion, First Death of the Lutheran
50. Sunnata, Outlands
51. Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Come and Chutney
Believe me when I tell you, I sweated over this section more than I did the actual top 30. Mansion should be higher. So should Chubby Thunderous, though something in me thought they might like being #50 on a list of 30. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Clamfight, Black Rainbows, Foehammer, Seedy Jeezus, Messa, Domkraft. All of these were fucking awesome. And there are more (we’ll get there). Eventually numbers add up. I won’t say a bad word about any of these. That’s it.
Honorable Mention
This section always winds up expanded as other people point out things I missed and so on, but here’s what I’ve got in the immediate, alphabetically:
Alms, Act One
Ape Machine, Darker Seas
Belzebong, Light the Dankness
Black Moon Circle, Psychedelic Spacelord
Blackwater Holylight, Blackwater Holylight
Bong, Thought and Existence
Carpet, About Rooms and Elephants
Churchburn, None Shall Live… The Hymns of Misery
Deadbird, III: The Forest Within the Tree
Dead Meadow, The Nothing They Need
Death Alley, Superbia
Drug Cult, Drug Cult
Dunbarrow, II
Electric Citizen, Helltown
Eagle Twin, The Thundering Heard: Songs of Hoof and Horn
Evoken, Hypnagogia
Funeral Horse, Psalms for the Mourning
Fuzz Evil, High on You
Graven, Heirs of Discord
Graveyard, Peace
Green Dragon, Green Dragon
Green Druid, Ashen Blood
Here Lies Man, You Will Know Nothing
High Priestess, High Priestess
Horehound, Holocene
IAH, II
JIRM, Surge ex Monumentis
Killer Boogie, Acid Cream
Lonely Kamel, Death’s Head Hawkmoth
MaidaVale, Madness is Too Pure
Moab, Trough
Mountain Dust, Seven Storms
Mouth, Floating
Mr. Plow, Maintain Radio Silence
T.G. Olson, Earthen Pyramid
Onségen Ensemble, Duel
Orango, Evergreen
Owl, Nights in Distortion
Pushy, Hard Wish
Rifflord, 7 Cremation Ground/Meditation
River Cult, Halcyon Daze
Rotor, Sechs
Somali Yacht Club, The Sea
Sumac, Love in Shadow
Sundrifter, Visitations
Svvamp, Svvamp II
Thou, Magus
Thunder Horse, Thunder Horse
Weedpecker, III
Special Note
Somehow it didn’t seem appropriate to include these in the list proper because they’re not really underground releases, but there were two more records I especially wanted to highlight for their quality:
Alice in Chains, Rainier Fog
Judas Priest, Firepower
Best Short Release of the Year
Normally I’d do this as a separate post, but as a result of being robbed earlier this year, I feel like my list is woefully incomplete. If you have any demos, EPs, splits, singles, etc., to add to it, please feel free to do so in the comments below. Still, the top pick was clear:
Rarely do two bands work in such coherent tandem to their mutual benefit. Here are a few other essential short releases for 2018, alphabetically:
All Them Witches, Lost and Found
Alunah, Amber & Gold
Canyon, Mk II
Demon Head, The Resistence
Destroyer of Light, Hopeless
Ecstatic Vision, Under the Influence
Godmaker & Somnuri, Split
Holy Mushroom, Blood and Soul
King Buffalo, Repeater
Minsk & Zatokrev, Split
Sleep, Leagues Beneath
Stonus, Lunar Eclipse
Sundecay, Gale
Looking Forward
A good many albums have already been announced or hinted at for 2019. I in no way claim this to be a complete roundup of what’s coming, but here’s what I have in my notes so far, in absolutely no order:
Kings Destroy, Lo-Pan, Cities of Mars, Heavy Temple, Mr. Peter Hayden, Curse the Son, High Fighter, Destroyer of Light, Year of the Cobra, Buffalo Fuzz, Zaum, The Sonic Dawn, Alunah, Candlemass, Elepharmers, Grandier, Dorre, Abrahma, Mars Red Sky, Eternal Black, Elephant Tree, Atala, No Man’s Valley, Sun Blood Stories, Crypt Sermon, The Riven, Hibrido, Snail, Red Beard Wall, 11Paranoias, Dead Witches, Monte Luna, Captain Caravan (LP), Swallow the Sun, Oreyeon, Motorpsycho, Vokonis, Hexvessel, Saint Vitus, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Kind, Mastiff, Shadow Witch, Om.
Okay, That’s It
Yeah, no, I’m serious. List is done. Everybody go back to your lives. Your families miss you.
Really though, while this is by no means my last post of 2018, I can’t let it pass without saying thank you so much to everyone for checking out the site this year, or for just digging into this, or for sending me music, or hitting me up on social media, sharing a link, anything. Thank you. Thank you. I could never have imagined when it started out where it would be now. Or that I’d still be doing it. Your support means more to me than I can say, and I thank you so much for being a part of this with me.
So thanks.
If you have something to add to the list, please do so by leaving a comment below, but keep in mind as well the above note requesting civility. Please don’t make me feel stupid because I forgot your favorite record. I forgot a lot of people’s favorite records. I’m one dude. I’m doing my best.
And please keep in mind if you’ve got a list together that the Year-End Poll is open and results will be out Jan. 1.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 19th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Here’s a nifty thought to make your day a little brighter: YOB touring with Voivod on a co-headlining run with support from Amenra. Just to put a check on it, it’s the outfit who defined and continue to reinvent cosmic doom, the band who innovated nerdism in heavy metal and proved that thrash could be progressive, and Europe’s leading purveyor of post-metal. This is not a minor tour. It’s not even the kind of tour you talk about later. It’s the kind of tour that, if you know, you were there, and that’s it. Some experiences don’t need words. “You were at that show?” “Yeah.” And so on.
YOB of course go in support of earlier-2018’s Our Raw Heart (review here), which if the results thus far of the Year-End Poll (add your list!) are anything to go by, yes, you already knew that. Voivod and Amenra have releases too, but really, even if none of them had put out a record in five years, wouldn’t this still be an astounding bill? Yes, yes it would.
Dates are presented by Nanotear and are as follows:
Spring 2019: Yob + Voivod + Amenra
03.26 Minneapolis MN Fine Line 03.27 Chicago IL Thalhia Hall 03.28 Columbus OH Ace of Cups 03.29 Cleveland OH Grog Shop 03.30 Toronto ON Phoenix 03.31 Buffalo NY Town Ballroom 04.02 Portland ME Geno’s 04.03 Boston MA Royale 04.04 Brooklyn NY Warsaw 04.05 Philadelphia PA Union Transfer 04.06 Richmond VA Broadberry 04.07 Raleigh NC Kings 04.09 Knoxville TN Concourse (Co-presented with American Icon) 04.10 Atlanta GA Masquerade / Hell 04.11 New Orleans LA One Eyed Jack’s 04.12 Houston TX Warehouse Studios 04.13 Austin TX Barracuda 04.14 Dallas TX Gas Monkey 04.16 Denver CO Marquis Theater* 04.18 Mesa AZ Club Red+ 04.19 San Diego CA Brick by Brick w/ Monolord+ + = YOB only * = no Voivod
YOB is: Mike Scheidt – Guitar, Vocals Aaron Rieseberg – Bass Travis Foster – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
So, unless they post a new video or something or start announcing their inevitable Spring 2019 plans, this is probably the last time I’ll post about YOB before we get to the year-end lists in December. I feel compelled to point out the fact that they’re fucking amazing. Fact? Yes. Fact. It’s established. It’s not like gravity, which is a theory just waiting to be disproved. It’s a fact. Undeniable. They’re a special band. They’re almost certainly the best of their generation, and the innovations in style and form they’ve brought to doom have only made it and listeners richer for their advent. I’m sorry. If you can’t dig on YOB, I’ve got nothing for you.
I guess that’s what I want to say about it. Their latest album, Our Raw Heart (review here), well, if you haven’t heard it, it’s down there at the bottom of this post. But you’ve heard it. I’m actually dying to get to the year-end poll and see how they do against the behemoth that is Sleep. I think they’ve got a shot.
Either way, YOB will round out their year doing what they’ve done a whole lot of in 2018 already: touring. And hey, look at that! The West Coast stint is presented by Gimme Radio, which is a thing I’m on. Good to see the name getting out there, especially on something it’s so easy to wholeheartedly endorse.
Poster and info from the PR wire:
YOB: Announce End of 2018 West Coast Tour Dates; European Headlining Tour Begins Next Week
Our Raw Heart is out now on CD/2xLP/Deluxe 2xLP Boxset/CS/Digital
YOB returns to North American highways once more before the end of 2018, adding a half-dozen date trek up and down the North American West Coast including a performance Decibel Magazine’s Metal & Beer Fest on Dec. 2 at the Wiltern. Gimme Radio presents the non-Decibel shows.
The new round of tour dates are:
December 1 San Francisco, CA Slim’s ^ December 2 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern (Decibel Metal & Beer Fest) December 5 Seattle, WA Neumo’s # December 7 Vancouver, BC Astoria # December 8 Bellingham, WA Shakedown # December 9 Portland, OR Star Theatre #^
# – with Thrones ^ – with Khorada
The dates follow an extensive European tour, which kicks off next week in Germany and includes an Oct. 13 performance at Desertfest.
YOB Tour Dates: October 5 to November 13 w/ Wiegedood (except *)
October 5 Karlsruhe, Germany Jubez October 6 Nijmegen, Netherlands Soulcrusher October 7 Bristol, UK The Fleece October 9 Glasgow, UK Stereo October 10 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club October 11 Manchester, UK Gorilla October 13 Antwerp, Belgium Desertfest * October 14 Cologne, Germany Gebaeude9 October 16 Hamburg, Germany Molotow Club October 17 Copenhagen, Denmark Vega October 18 Gothenburg, Sweden Sticky Fingers October 19 Stockholm, Sweden Kraken October 20 Oslo, Norway Blä October 21 Helsingfors, Finland Tavastia * October 23 Paris, France Petit Bain October 24 Feyzin, France L’Epicerie Moderne October 25 Cenon, France Le Rocher De Palmer October 26 Bilbao, Spain Santana 27 October 27 Porto, Portugal Hard Club October 28 Madrid, Spain Caracol October 29 Barcelona, Spain Boveda October 31 Langenthal, Switzerland Old Capitol November 1 Milan, Italy Santeria Social Club November 2 Bologna, Italy Freakout Club November 3 Martigny, Switzerland Caves Du Manoir November 4 Bregenz, Austria Between November 6 Vienna, Austria Arena November 7 Budapest, Hungary Robot November 8 Leipzig, Germany UT Connewitz November 9 Warsaw, Poland Hydrozagadka November 10 Kraków, Poland Soulstone Gathering Festival November 11 Berlin, Germany Musik & Frieden November 13 Athens, Greece Kyttaro Live Club *
YOB is: Mike Scheidt – Guitar, Vocals Aaron Rieseberg – Bass Travis Foster – Drums
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 13th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
It’s been a full week since YOB released the video below, and I’ll admit I held off posting it basically because I didn’t go to the show where it was filmed and of everything I either attended or didn’t this summer, missing YOB probably stings the most. Actually, Portugal stings the most, but YOB at Le Poisson Rouge are a close second. You see, I was there in 2011 the last time they played that room, and they were of course incredible. I’ve seen YOB numerous times since then, but this show had the kind of vibe of being the NYC arrival party for their new album, Our Raw Heart (review here), and in addition to feeling like I should be there on account of that, I wanted to be. It’s fucking YOB. I remember a time when they were never going to play again. Every show since is a gift.
What finally tipped the balance and got me to get over myself and post it was reading that it was filmed by Frank Huang. Frank‘s work has always been top notch and worth highlighting whenever possible, and the clip for “Original Face” that follows here is no exception to that. It’s an exciting performance-capture that’s briskly edited and doesn’t need to be overdone to showcase the impact of YOB live. For everyone who’s seen them before, it’s a reminder of what a special band they are live, and for anyone who hasn’t, it’s a compelling argument to get off your ass next time. I hope to do precisely that when next given the opportunity. I’m also holding out hope they’ll be added to Roadburn next year and make a return there, but I haven’t heard anything either way as yet.
In the meantime, the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and drummer Travis Foster are wrapping a quick West Coast run with Acid King and CHRCH, and next month they head to Europe to tour with Wiegedood and hit several festivals along the way on the extended trek. You’ll find those dates below, and if you’re anywhere near where they’re going to be, even if you’ve seen them multiple times before, go. If you don’t, you’ll regret it later. Trust me.
Enjoy the clip:
YOB, “Original Face” official video
YOB, who recently released their critically-acclaimed album, Our Raw Heart, share a live video for “Original Face.”
The clip was directed by Frank Huang (Maximum Volume Silence) and filmed at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.
YOB Tour Dates: US WEST COAST TOUR w/ ACID KING & CHRCH September 13 Phoenix, AZ Club Red September 14 San Diego, CA Brick by Brick September 15 Oakland, CA Metro
FALL EUROPEAN TOUR DATES w/ WIEGEDOOD Oct 05 Karlsruhe, DE Jubez Oct 06 Nijmegen, NL Soulcrusher Festival Oct 07 Bristol, UK The Fleece Oct 09 Glasgow, UK Stereo Oct 10 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club Oct 11 Manchester, UK Gorilla Oct 12 London, UK The Garage Oct 13 Antwerp, BE Desertfest Belgium (No Wiegedood) Oct 14 Koln, DE Gebaeude9 Oct 16 Hamburg, DE Molotow Club Oct 17 Copenhagen, DK Vega Oct 18 Gothenburg, SE Sticky Fingers Oct 19 Stockholm, SE Kraken Oct 20 Oslo, NO Bla Oct 21 Helsinki, FI Tavastia (no Wiegedood) Oct 23 Paris, FR Petit Bain Oct 24 Feyzin, FR L’Epicerie Moderne Oct 25 Cenon, FR Le Rocher De Palmer Oct 27 Porto, PT Hard Club Oct 28 Madrid, ES Caracol Oct 29 Barcelona, ES Boveda Oct 31 Langenthal, CH Old Capitol Nov 01 Milan, IT Santeria Social Club Nov 02 Bologna, IT Freakout Club Nov 03 Martigny, CH Caves Du Manoir Nov 04 Bregenz, AT Between Nov 06 Vienna, AT Arena Nov 07 Budapest, HU Robot Nov 08 Leipzig, DE UT Connewitz Nov 09 Warsaw, PL Hydrozagadka Nov 10 Krakow, PL Soulstone Gathering Festival Nov 11 Berlin, DE Musik & Frieden Nov 13 Athens, GR Kyttaro Live Club (no Wiegedood)
Dec 01 Los Angeles, CA Decibel Metal & Beer Festival
YOB is: Mike Scheidt – Guitar, Vocals Aaron Rieseberg – Bass Travis Foster – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 4th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
It a little bit broke my heart to miss YOB when they came through last week. They were in New York, I was in Connecticut. It would’ve been at least 90 minutes in the car, but at the end of that trip, I’d have seen YOB on their first run through supporting their new album, Our Raw Heart (review here), with direct support from Bell Witch and Philly’s own Heavy Temple rounding out the bill. That’s a fucking awesome show. But, you know, baby stuff. I’d been to a fest the weekend prior. Taking care of my wife’s sister’s kids. So on and so forth. But yeah, that one stung a little bit to miss. I don’t feel that way nearly about as many shows as I used to, but I for sure did about that one.
YOB, of course, have a fuck-ton of tour dates coming up, and more are being added. They’ll wrap up the stint with Bell Witch next week, then there are shows in September with Acid King and CHRCH which is a bill so righteous it makes me want to price flights to Albuquerque, and then a full European tour with Wiegedood that picks up in October. Then they’re at the West Coast Decibel Metal and Beer Fest in Los Angeles in December. Next year? Probably more touring, if I had to guess. Anyone remember when YOB didn’t tour? That used to be a thing. Now they’re like a Relapse band or something. Ha.
Overwhelming list follows, courtesy of the PR wire:
YOB: Announce Fall European Headlining Tour Dates
Our Raw Heart is out now on CD/2xLP/Deluxe 2xLP Boxset/CS/Digital
Oregon cosmic trio YOB announce Fall European headlining tour dates throughout October and November. The band will be touring in support of the recently released full-length album Our Raw Heart. Belgium’s Wiegedood will provide direct support throughout the tour. A full list of confirmed tour dates is available below.
YOB’s Our Raw Heart is out now on CD/LP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical packages are available via Relapse.com HERE and Digital Downloads / Streaming Services HERE.
YOB w/ Bell Witch remaining dates: July 04 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club July 06 Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre July 07 Detroit, MI @ El Club July 08 Chicago, IL @ Reggies July 10 St. Paul, MN @ Club July 11 Omaha, NE @ Lookout Lounge July 12 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre July 13 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge July 14 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
— All Dates Sept 6 – Sept 15th w/ Acid King & Chrch — Sep 06 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s Sep 07 Santa Cruz, CA Catalyst Atrium Sep 08 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s Sep 09 Los Angeles, CA Teragram Sep 12 Albuquerque, NM Sister Sep 13 Phoenix, AZ Club Red Sep 14 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick Sep 15 Oakland, CA Metro
YOB FALL EUROPEAN TOUR DATES w/ WIEGEDOOD: Oct 05 Karlsruhe, DE Jubez Oct 06 Nijmegen, NL Soulcrusher Festival Oct 07 Bristol, UK The Fleece Oct 09 Glasgow, UK Stereo Oct 10 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club Oct 11 Manchester, UK Gorilla Oct 12 London, UK The Garage Oct 13 Antwerp, BE Desertfest Belgium (No Wiegedood) Oct 14 Koln, DE Gebaeude9 Oct 16 Hamburg, DE Molotow Club Oct 17 Copenhagen, DK Vega Oct 18 Gothenburg, SE Sticky Fingers Oct 19 Stockholm, SE Kraken Oct 20 Oslo, NO Bla Oct 21 Helsinki, FI Tavastia (no Wiegedood) Oct 23 Paris, FR Petit Bain Oct 24 Feyzin, FR L’Epicerie Moderne Oct 25 Cenon, FR Le Rocher De Palmer Oct 27 Porto, PT Hard Club Oct 28 Madrid, ES Caracol Oct 29 Barcelona, ES Boveda Oct 31 Langenthal, CH Old Capitol Nov 01 Milan, IT Santeria Social Club Nov 02 Bologna, IT Freakout Club Nov 03 Martigny, CH Caves Du Manoir Nov 04 Bregenz, AT Between Nov 06 Vienna, AT Arena Nov 07 Budapest, HU Robot Nov 08 Leipzig, DE UT Connewitz Nov 09 Warsaw, PL Hydrozagadka Nov 10 Krakow, PL Soulstone Gathering Festival Nov 11 Berlin, DE Musik & Frieden Nov 13 Athens, GR Kyttaro Live Club (no Wiegedood)
Dec 01-02 Los Angeles, CA Decibel Metal & Beer Fest
One sincerely doubts the band thinks about it this way, but YOB‘s eighth album, Our Raw Heart, arrives at a pivotal moment for the band. Not only does it mark their debut on Relapse Records after outings on Neurot Recordings and Profound Lore — one might argue it’s their highest-profile release since 2004’s The Illusion of Motion and 2005’s The Unreal Never Lived (discussed here), which was issued via Metal Blade — but it’s the point at which they must answer the question of where to go after 2014’s Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here), which was not only a landmark for the Eugene, Oregon, three-piece themselves, but for the genre as whole.
It was the moment when YOB pushed beyond even the groundbreaking, crushing and ethereal cosmic doom of their two prior offerings, 2009’s The Great Cessation(review here) and 2011’s Atma(review here), and into new territory of emotionalism and aesthetic individuality. Simply put, it was one of the best if not the best record of the decade, so how the hell do you follow that up? If you’re YOB, the answer turns out to be pretty easy: you keep moving forward.
Our Raw Heart comes accompanied by the narrative of guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt coming through a potentially life-threatening bout with diverticulitis that required emergency surgery and a long recovery afterward, and it’s easy enough to read that story and reflection on that into the lyrics of the seven-track/73-minute outing. Even as songs like “In Reverie,” the short and punishing “Lungs Reach” and longest track and immediate focal point “The Beauty in Falling Leaves” — which feels like a natural answer to “Marrow” (discussed here) from the last record and the latest in a tradition of YOB epics going back 15 years to the early declaration of their second album, Catharsis, and their preceding 2002 exploratory debut, Elaborations of Carbon — bleed directly into each other in a natural flow, something here feels unsettled, shaken. As reflective as Our Raw Heartgets, it’s still right that it includes “raw” in the title, as it seems there’s very little distance between the expression and the experience.
At the same time — and somehow not in contradiction — Our Raw Heart is also YOB‘s most expansive-sounding collection yet. Produced by the band, which is the steady lineup of Scheidt, bassist Aaron Rieseberg (also of Norska) and drummer Travis Foster, with Billy Barnett at Gung Ho Studio in their hometown, it’s patient and graceful. It maintains elements that are signature YOB, whether it’s in Rieseberg‘s foundational low end throughout, Foster‘s propensity to make even a quiet drum part like the quiet fade at the end of “Beauty of Falling Leaves” swing, or Scheidt‘s style of riffing on opener “Ablaze” and the galloping chug of the subsequent “The Screen,” but it also pushes ahead along the steady pattern of progression that YOB have tread since making their return nearly a decade ago after splitting up following The Unreal Never Lived.
And even before that. The entire trajectory, from one album to the next, has been a progression of always-developing sonic ideas, and as much as Our Raw Heart may be centered around Scheidt processing and coming to an understanding of what he’s been through — never mind the psychological and emotional implications of facing one’s own mortality; or better, don’t — the story of who YOB are as a band lies in that factor. Like Neurosis before them and few others on this planet, they’re the kind of band whose eighth album you look forward to because you can trust it will bring the next stage of their creative evolution, and certainly Our Raw Heart lives up to that promise.
Songs like “Original Face” and and even “The Screen” seem to share some sonic kinship with Atma, and certainly a closing title-track with a stretch of quiet guitar at the beginning is familiar enough ground, but for all three players and for the group as a single entity, these cuts and the rest demonstrate that the larger narrative of YOB is one of an ongoing advance, and the most pivotal accomplishment Our Raw Heart makes in terms of its sheer sound is in pushing beyond its predecessor as fluidly and naturally as that album did its own. Our Raw Heart is the point at which YOB affirm not only the sustainability of their sound as a mature band, which Clearing the Path to Ascend seemed to lay out, but also their unmistakable drive to go deeper into their approach and find a new level of enunciation for who they are and what they do.
This journey is as gorgeous as it is grueling and as beautiful as it is painful. The scope from the lumbering march of “The Screen” to the immersive breadth of “Beauty in Falling Leaves,” or from the momentary extremity and crunching atmosphere of “Lungs Reach” — which at 5:40 is the shortest YOB song ever — and the epilogue of push in “Original Face” and apex wash in the title-track, during which the lead guitar seems to sing through its surroundings almost like a joyous bagpipe on a fadeout that, even after 73 minutes, seems to end the record too soon. Worth noting that while it features the shortest cut they’ve ever written — as its centerpiece, no less — Our Raw Heart is also the longest album YOB have ever produced.
That’s here or there to the listening experience itself, as once you’re in it, you’re in it, but a testament nonetheless to the basic amount of, well, everything put into it. While the title begs the question of who “we” are — the band? the band and audience? the whole of humanity? — YOB make perfectly clear the personal tone of the album, and whatever it might mean to anyone who’d take it on, it obviously holds great meaning for them. Still, looking at it in the context of their arc as a whole, it is the continuity that’s most striking. Scheidt, Rieseberg and Foster seem to hit turning points almost each time out, and Our Raw Heart is no exception to that, but it’s also the logical next step from where they were four years ago, and as much as it may be fueled and motivated by what Scheidt went through over the last couple years, in its songwriting and execution it continues the band’s progression and says more plainly than ever before that it will not stop.
For as long as YOB go, they will keep growing. I don’t know if it was a question, but if it was, it isn’t anymore, and the answer is that while their style remains one of the most immediately identifiable in doom, and while their influence spreads over an up and coming generation of heavy acts looking to reach expanses of their own, YOB will still refine who they are, still push beyond their collective comfort zone, and still work to arrive at a changing realization of their sound. If Our Raw Heart isn’t a contender for the best album of 2018, I’ve got nothing for you, but more important than where it appears on a given list and more important than any fawning the press might throw its way, it’s the latest stage of YOB‘s resonant and perpetual manifestation, and another landmark along their own expressive path.
