With each album Yellow Eyes continues their upwards trajectory, even if their core elements haven’t changed that much over the years. The NYC based black metal band has made a name for themselves creating sprawling black metal that built a tense yet inviting atmosphere, with field recordings taken from around the world adding to the mysterious yet familiar sound. For their fifth full-length Rare Field Ceiling the group has walked a similar path yet taken things to their next logical path, providing even more complex arrangements and some of their most haunting, mesmerizing atmospherics yet.
The overall writing style may not have diverged significantly from the past few records, as Yellow Eyes remains focused on methodical instrumentation that weaves icy blasting and slower introspective passages that let the melodies expand outwards to their fullest level. What has progressed with each album is what the group layers over top of this base, as with each one the amounts of twists and turns have increased and the riffs have only seemed to get more and more adventurous. Rare Field Ceiling amplifies this to another level entirely, with songs like “No Dust” providing swirling guitar melodies that feel oppressive and warm within seconds of each other. The transitions between these elements happens even more frequently than before, with the instrumentals weaving a fluid narrative from beginning to end. While the songs once again skew towards the longer side of the spectrum they feel like half the time, as the blasts bludgeon away at you only for tranquil atmosphere to suck you back in minutes later. The field recordings feel better integrated than ever before, merging with the guitar and bass work to create a sound that comes across as alien yet familiar at the same time. It’s these types of nuances that continue to propel Yellow Eyes above some of their peers, and the vibrancy of Rare Field Ceiling surpasses their previous efforts.
Will Skarstad’s vocal style is one element of the group’s material that has stayed consistent over the years, as his high-pitched shrieks have a recognizable sound that makes them easy to pick out amongst other U.S. black metal bands. Where some of Yellow Eyes’ previous releases have placed him a little further back in the mix, in recent years he’s towered above the instrumentals and each scream is capable of sending chills down your spine. It’s an approach that works well, as even when Rare Field Ceiling appears to be heading towards a calmer and tranquil path the shrieks burst in to remind you that the calm is only temporary. This is best demonstrated on the closing track “Maritime Flair” where the band has recorded an old-folk song in Siberia which has somber singing that is suddenly interspersed with Skarstad’s screams.
Yellow Eyes’ material has always had a sense of immediacy that drew you in with tense melodies and constantly shifting instrumentation, but Rare Field Ceiling goes beyond that and has even more sections that will stick with you in the coming months after that initial exploration. While their core has stayed intact, the elements the band has layered over it have only continued to increase in complexity and ambition and the result is an album that’s haunting yet inviting. Rare Field Ceiling is available from Gilead Media.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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