+++++++++++++
ROADBURN
special.post.10
+++++++++++++
Roadburn D-1
This will be my last post till' I'm back from the Roadburn.
I see you next week.
Keep in touch!
YOB
www.myspace.com/yobdoom
American Doom legends formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon by guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt. They split-up in 2006 just after releasing their 4th album - The Unreal Never Lived - before getting back on stage in 2008.
After Yob disbandment, Mike Scheidt formed Middian, who had to split-up short after releasing their only record - Age Eternal - after a stupid lawsuit affair.
Middian split probably originated Mike Scheidt announcement of Yob reformation in 2008.
Don't miss these living legends of Doom!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
YOB - The Unreal Never Lived - 2005
Download
Thanx to Stonerobixxx for the link.
(password: robixxx)
Their fourth album.
The last before they split-up and formed Middian.
"Anti-gravity capsules are for losers. Place me in an immersion tank and surround my ass with some doom metal. Who wants to float in simulated space conditions when they can choose to hide from the sun and get suffocated by their own sense of abandonment?
YOB aren't an escape. They're metaphysical doom. Sure, you should be scared of evil. It can tailor-make your destruction in a heartbeat. But struggling with your faith, mind, and reason for being placed on this Earth are slower and much more frightening. Which isn't to say they're waiting around for your muscles to atrophy between snare hits (Khanate) or the bass drone to give your bowels a break (Boris). You could do the reference game with them all day, name checking Sleep, Burning Witch, Neurosis, and High on Fire - even Electric Wizard, Ufomammut, Isis, Melvins, and Black Sabbath wouldn't be out of line. But YOB's The Unreal Never Lived - four songs in 50 minutes - still stands out on its own as epic downtrodden metal with what sounds like seasoned potsmokers throwing in their High Times for some new age religious tracts.
YOB sound like doom, the kind that has you up at night wondering why we even bother holding jobs when we barely get paid enough to pay for our housing and vehicles or why we bother befriending people if they are just gonna turn on us. And those methodical bastards in YOB probably enjoy causing that pain."
http://pitchfork.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
YOB - The Great Cessation - 2009
Download
Their reformation album.
Heavy. Dark. Epic.
Cult.
"Playing in a band isn't supposed to be pretty or fair, but what happened to Middian was about as dogshit awful as it gets. Mike Scheidt's post-YOB project had every indication of surpassing YOB's already awe-inspiring output (and this, mind you, I base on Dreamless Eye alone), and then some do-nothing, go-nowhere band from – well, who the fuck cares, really? - hits them with a cease and desist order due to a trademarked name. If you can barely break even on tour, how are you going to pay for legal fees? The short answer is “You can't,” so Middian hung it up.
That would have been a completely disastrous turn of events had Scheidt not resurrected YOB. And, judging by the anguished roar that he lets loose at two minutes and 23 seconds into lead track Burning the Altar, he also channeled the rage and pent-up aggression of the Middian experience into The Great Cessation. Doom – be it traditional, crust, funeral, psychedelic, or whatever other sub-sub-genre's out there - is meant to be dour and slow, but here it's also furious. The riffs, the vocals, the deliberate, pummeling rhythm (courtesy of YOB alumni Travis Foster on drums and new bassist Aaron Reiseberg) – the song's a clenched fist. It seethes from start to finish, and as a statement of intent for The Great Cessation, you can't get any better.
You can, however, find equally strong songs. The Lie That Is Sin has more forward momentum – it's on par with Dreamless Eye or The Unreal Never Lived's Quantum Mystic, tempo-wise – and offers a strong vocal hook. The way Scheidt lets his clean croon plummet to the death growl, following that with some melodic, psychedelic guitar work, makes for multi-dimensional heaviness. That's sort of textbook YOB – they've got a knack for wresting as many dynamics out of their songs as possible – but it's taken to a new level here. The howls at the beginning of Silence of Heaven I'm ambivalent about, but otherwise its minimalistic, almost Sunn0)))-like approach serves as a crushing, effective interlude between The Lie That Is Sin and Breathing from the Shallows, another wall of doom that slices through you with some incendiary playing.
As with the YOB efforts in the past, there's one song where they lay it all out on the table and stretch out for 20-plus minutes. Here it's the title track and it's truly an epic. The Great Cessation starts off quietly, almost like a lament, then opens up with a beautiful riff that, if you'll forgive one more bit of grandiose writing, reaches up to the heavens from some darkened pit. It's as hopeful as it is hopeless and ends the album on as strong a note as it started. Listen, any band worth its salt can write a song that elicits an emotional response, but few can craft one that's so complex and multifaceted. That's one of the many reasons YOB's so far ahead of the curve not just in the doom genre, but as musicians in general.
Middian's death was unfortunate, but if that band had to cease in order for YOB to be reborn, I can't mourn its passing. The Great Cessation is a masterpiece and sets the bar so ridiculously high, it's not even worth comparing other doom albums to it.
Highly recommended."
www.stonerrock.com
ROADBURN
special.post.10
+++++++++++++
Roadburn D-1
This will be my last post till' I'm back from the Roadburn.
I see you next week.
Keep in touch!
YOB
www.myspace.com/yobdoom
American Doom legends formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon by guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt. They split-up in 2006 just after releasing their 4th album - The Unreal Never Lived - before getting back on stage in 2008.
After Yob disbandment, Mike Scheidt formed Middian, who had to split-up short after releasing their only record - Age Eternal - after a stupid lawsuit affair.
Middian split probably originated Mike Scheidt announcement of Yob reformation in 2008.
Don't miss these living legends of Doom!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
YOB - The Unreal Never Lived - 2005
Download
Thanx to Stonerobixxx for the link.
(password: robixxx)
Their fourth album.
The last before they split-up and formed Middian.
"Anti-gravity capsules are for losers. Place me in an immersion tank and surround my ass with some doom metal. Who wants to float in simulated space conditions when they can choose to hide from the sun and get suffocated by their own sense of abandonment?
YOB aren't an escape. They're metaphysical doom. Sure, you should be scared of evil. It can tailor-make your destruction in a heartbeat. But struggling with your faith, mind, and reason for being placed on this Earth are slower and much more frightening. Which isn't to say they're waiting around for your muscles to atrophy between snare hits (Khanate) or the bass drone to give your bowels a break (Boris). You could do the reference game with them all day, name checking Sleep, Burning Witch, Neurosis, and High on Fire - even Electric Wizard, Ufomammut, Isis, Melvins, and Black Sabbath wouldn't be out of line. But YOB's The Unreal Never Lived - four songs in 50 minutes - still stands out on its own as epic downtrodden metal with what sounds like seasoned potsmokers throwing in their High Times for some new age religious tracts.
YOB sound like doom, the kind that has you up at night wondering why we even bother holding jobs when we barely get paid enough to pay for our housing and vehicles or why we bother befriending people if they are just gonna turn on us. And those methodical bastards in YOB probably enjoy causing that pain."
http://pitchfork.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
YOB - The Great Cessation - 2009
Download
Their reformation album.
Heavy. Dark. Epic.
Cult.
"Playing in a band isn't supposed to be pretty or fair, but what happened to Middian was about as dogshit awful as it gets. Mike Scheidt's post-YOB project had every indication of surpassing YOB's already awe-inspiring output (and this, mind you, I base on Dreamless Eye alone), and then some do-nothing, go-nowhere band from – well, who the fuck cares, really? - hits them with a cease and desist order due to a trademarked name. If you can barely break even on tour, how are you going to pay for legal fees? The short answer is “You can't,” so Middian hung it up.
That would have been a completely disastrous turn of events had Scheidt not resurrected YOB. And, judging by the anguished roar that he lets loose at two minutes and 23 seconds into lead track Burning the Altar, he also channeled the rage and pent-up aggression of the Middian experience into The Great Cessation. Doom – be it traditional, crust, funeral, psychedelic, or whatever other sub-sub-genre's out there - is meant to be dour and slow, but here it's also furious. The riffs, the vocals, the deliberate, pummeling rhythm (courtesy of YOB alumni Travis Foster on drums and new bassist Aaron Reiseberg) – the song's a clenched fist. It seethes from start to finish, and as a statement of intent for The Great Cessation, you can't get any better.
You can, however, find equally strong songs. The Lie That Is Sin has more forward momentum – it's on par with Dreamless Eye or The Unreal Never Lived's Quantum Mystic, tempo-wise – and offers a strong vocal hook. The way Scheidt lets his clean croon plummet to the death growl, following that with some melodic, psychedelic guitar work, makes for multi-dimensional heaviness. That's sort of textbook YOB – they've got a knack for wresting as many dynamics out of their songs as possible – but it's taken to a new level here. The howls at the beginning of Silence of Heaven I'm ambivalent about, but otherwise its minimalistic, almost Sunn0)))-like approach serves as a crushing, effective interlude between The Lie That Is Sin and Breathing from the Shallows, another wall of doom that slices through you with some incendiary playing.
As with the YOB efforts in the past, there's one song where they lay it all out on the table and stretch out for 20-plus minutes. Here it's the title track and it's truly an epic. The Great Cessation starts off quietly, almost like a lament, then opens up with a beautiful riff that, if you'll forgive one more bit of grandiose writing, reaches up to the heavens from some darkened pit. It's as hopeful as it is hopeless and ends the album on as strong a note as it started. Listen, any band worth its salt can write a song that elicits an emotional response, but few can craft one that's so complex and multifaceted. That's one of the many reasons YOB's so far ahead of the curve not just in the doom genre, but as musicians in general.
Middian's death was unfortunate, but if that band had to cease in order for YOB to be reborn, I can't mourn its passing. The Great Cessation is a masterpiece and sets the bar so ridiculously high, it's not even worth comparing other doom albums to it.
Highly recommended."
www.stonerrock.com
1 Comments:
I stumbled upon your blog by searching for Kirk Windstein. Please never stop blogging! I have found new music and revisited old favourites by reading through your entries. Thank you so much for your amazing and beautiful blog! :O
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