There may be plenty of bands that try and branch out into various metal sub-genres, but often they are still rooted in one style. It’s harder to find ones that truly seem to shapeshift from one song to the next and channel a little bit of everything this type of music has to offer, but Yautja’s managed to do just that over the past decade. Initially coming through as a mixture of grind, punk, sludge, death metal, and everything in between, their hard to pin down sound and energy has left an impression on listeners who discovered 2014’s Songs of Descent and the various EP’s and splits that have followed. This year finally sees the release of full-length number two, The Lurch, which leans a bit more into noise rock and even sharper production values.
Few bands have been able to take a kitchen sink approach to punk and metal without having it turn into a whirlwind of half-baked ideas, and this is where Yautja has always stood out for me. Although The Lurch explores a bit more noise rock and slower, methodical tempos that fit the album title, the trio still has a tendency to pick up speed and throw in stylistic elements when you least expect it while still providing riffs that stick out. Opener “A Killing Joke” gives a pretty good indication of the type and twists and turns you’re in for with angular noise rock riffs and a healthy dose of thrash and grind riffs added in for good measure, with some brief moments even heading towards death metal and industrial territory. Even when Yautja settles into a slow burning groove and sludgy take where the riffs seem to hover over the recording like a cloud of smoke, they still shake things up in ways that bend the rules of these styles. But it’s not just the guitar and bass that make this work, as the drums also play a significant role in the free-flowing and shapeshifting nature of the material. If you focus on the drumming on repeat listens, you’ll notice how diverse the patterns are, and there’s a lot more intricate details than the usual sheer speed of grind or sparseness of doom. The production values are also some of the best the band has showcased to date, as there’s room for each of the instruments to breathe in the mix and bludgeon listeners equally.
All three members contribute vocals, so you’ll notice quite a bit of variety to the performances. They do stick towards the harsher end of the spectrum, so don’t expect some stealth clean singing or anything that’s quite as transformative as the instrumentation, but Yautja still switches things up more than the average band. The primary style is a lower growl that comes in somewhere between doom, grind, and the rawness of early industrial metal like Godflesh, but the back-ups add much higher screams and yells into the mix. I love how often the pitches overlap and create this wall of abrasive tones that punch you right in the face with all-out intensity, and it’s another element that really makes this album stand out for me.
Despite how many sub-genres of heavy music I’ve name dropped in this review, I wouldn’t call Yautja progressive or avant-garde. But they push outside the box often enough while still bringing riff after riff of noisy, sludgy, and sometimes blisteringly fast goodness that will stick with fans of punk and metal alike. There are more hooks than before and each member seems to be bringing even more to the table that makes this a wild and fun listen from beginning to end. If you’ve yet to experience this group, this is a great place to dive into. The Lurch is available from Relapse Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg