Doom is one of the few metal subgenres that are genuinely timeless; the pioneers that first started the genre, Black Sabbath and Pentagram, are still just as essential today as they were all those decades ago when they first started out and, thanks to the tidal wave they created, trickles of sub genres have flowed off from them. There’s the stoned smog of bands such as Weedeater, the satanic rites of Electric Wizard and all-out monster riffs of Cathedral. While these three particular rivulets are the most utilised and the best known, there is a fourth that is equally important and yet often overlooked. The esoteric ripples of doom that force the listener to uncover their third eye and explore the path less followed, to fall hypnotised into a lucid trance while powerful washes of riffs envelope them. Standing at the forefront of all this is Yob.
Yob have a respectable seven albums and ten years’ worth of experience under their belt and it is their consistency in being able to produce solid slabs of monolithic droned-out enlightenment that have built them their reputation. 2011’s ‘Atma’ was possibly not as well received as 2009’s ‘The Great Cessation’ due to its lack of hard hitting riffs. Thankfully, newest offering ‘Clearing the Path to Ascend’ has stepped up a gear, providing a fleshed-out version of what ‘Atma’ was trying to be.
The record begins with philosopher Alan Watts instructing the listener to “wake up” before Scheidt’s almighty howl cuts through on a sea of burgeoning guitars. Undoubtedly the highlight of this record is second track ‘Nothing to Win’ – Aaron Rieseberg and Trevor Foster carry much of the load on this track with chunky bass lines and warlike sounding drums. However, it is Scheidt’s vocal abilities that really drive this song forward – and that’s pretty much the case for all four tracks, actually. Mike Scheidt is not so much a front man and a vocalist as he is a primitive holy man, wailing and roaring at his parishioners to find a higher self.
We currently live in a time where doom is having a massive resurgence and bands such as Pallbearer, Electric Wizard and Bongripper are gaining enormous popularity with people who will have fallen by the wayside and found something new to obsess over within the next couple of years. Thankfully, Yob are just inaccessible enough that fair weather fans will find their music difficult to digest. This album may only be four tracks long, but it packs a mighty punch, clocking in at a ridiculous 63 minutes in length – the shortest song on this album is just over 11 minutes. Yob do have a point to put across, but they take their time over getting to it and aren’t out to give fans an easy time of it. Psychedelic rock, stoner metal, blues and ambient are all explored at length and utilised to build layer upon layer, making the journey that bit more complex. A rewarding and fruitful listen for long-time genuine fans, a ball-ache for those just wanting to jump on a bandwagon; this is without a shadow of a doubt one of Yob’s heaviest efforts to date and, as a result, one of their best.
(10/10 Angela Davey)
08/09/2014 at 8:28 am
Yob were stunning live in Glasgow; firing on all cylinders. Should be fantastic in London.