There’s heavy, and then there’s YOB.Hearing YOB’s 2005 album The Unreal Never Lived for the first time earlier this year I was stunned. At times it sounded like David Wayne from Metal Church fronting Sleep. At other times it sounded like Celtic Frost covering Swans. How come none of my friends into High On Fire or Electric Wizard told me about these guys? Like most good things in life, it’s always better to find out for yourself.
Yob became active again in 2008 after breaking up in 2006 after almost 10 years of service to the unforgiving beast of doom metal. In between, Portland, OR guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt started a band called Middian that released one album and then got stuck in the middle of an ugly legal battle with another band with the similar name Midian from Wisconsin. I don’t know the full story, but it sounds like Midian were a bunch of jerks who saw this as an opportunity to fund their band that didn’t record or tour. Lame.
The legal profession’s loss is doom metal’s gain because Yob’s The Great Cessation is an intensely heavy album. Heavier than Leslie West and Pig Champion at an all you can eat Indian buffet. Even heavier than the mess in the bathroom afterwards. That’s heavy duty.
Two and half minutes into opening song “Burning The Altar” Mike Scheidt lets out the scream he probably wanted to do in a lawyers office circa 2007 on a daily basis. When the lyrics of the song kick in, he sounds as pissed as when someone hides Wino’s bowl. Aaron Reiseberg’s bass bulldozes, the drums of Travis Foster pummel and Mike’s layers of guitars crush and swirl around your bruised cranium.Twelve and a half minutes later, the fun’s over and things get even slower on “The Lie That Is Sin.” Two minutes in it comes to a complete stop and the guitar plays a sparse repeating figure that eventually erupts into a full blown epic jam. Right around the 4:20 mark (coincidence?) a strong vocal hook emerges that sounds like Ozzy trying to break free from the murky mix of Black Flag’s In My Head album. After 7 and a half minutes a quieter groove presents itself but we all know that it’s just to make the next part even heavier and wraps up a tidy 11 minute song.
“Silence of Heaven” is the second shortest song on the album clocking in at just under 10 hellish minutes. Most of it is super slow pounding that recalls the vintage violence of Swans with tortured screams and some occasional crooning.
After that, “Breathing From the Shallows” sounds like it could almost be the hit single of the record. It’s only 7 and a half minutes and has a memorable guitar riff. Mike lets out a disgusted death grunt like he’s looking at the back cover of Celtic Frost’s Cold Lake album. The vocals alternate between death metal growls and angry cat in heat. Maybe it’s not a hit after all, but it’s memorable.The title track is a twenty minute trip that starts off like some lost King Crimson jam from 1973. The doom metal comes in around the 6 minute mark, probably too late for some of the stoner doom metal police, but that’s what fast forward buttons are for if they don’t like it. Even though it’s the longest song on the album, it’s a little less heavy than some of the others. It certainly is an endurance test to get through the whole thing, but it’s a rewarding listen.
Getting through 5 brutally heavy songs in an hour left me with a feeling of accomplishment. The whole mood of The Great Cessation is very dark, powerful and intense. I actually felt better when it was all over and my attitude improved. It’s very cathartic. I’d recommend it to anyone suffering from depression, rage or frustration.
--Woody
buy here: The Great Cessation
http://www.myspace.com/yobdoom
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