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|| Artist......: Yob ||
|| Album.......: The Great Cessation ||
|| Year........: 2014 ||
|| ||
|| Genre.......: Metal ||
|| Label.......: Neurot Recordings ||
|| ||
|| Source......: WEB (16bit) ||
|| Encoder.....: libFLAC ||
|| Bitrate.....: 909 kbps avg. ||
|| F.Rate......: 44.1kHz ||
|| ||
|| Playtime....: 01:16:07 / 513.18MB ||
|| R.Date......: 2024-09-07 ||
|| S.Date......: 2014-08-29 ||
|| Website.....: http://deezer.com/album/48966112 ||
|| ||
|| ||
|| 01. Burning the Altar 12:36 ||
|| 02. The Lie that is Sin 11:16 ||
|| 03. Silence of Heaven 9:47 ||
|| 04. Breathing from the Shallows 7:34 ||
|| 05. The Great Cessation 20:33 ||
|| 06. Blessed by Nothing (Bonus Track) 8:33 ||
|| 07. Pain Like Sugar (Bonus Track) 5:48 ||
|| ||
|| ||
|| Now in the cycle of their seventh album, United StatesÆ ||
|| doomsters Yob find themselves fΩted as a champion of the genre ||
|| to the most unexpected proportions. After all, this is a band ||
|| whose release schedule has slowed as recognition has soared and ||
|| possessors of a discography consisting primarily of songs ||
|| comfortably over the ten-minute mark. How has this happened? I ||
|| can speak from experience of becoming an instant convert over ||
|| the course of their two performances at this yearÆs Roadburn ||
|| where in my review I commented on the entrancing nature of ||
|| their music, awestruck at the total servitude granted their ||
|| slow motion crawl that generated an experience unlike any other ||
|| band I can remember having seen before. This carried over into ||
|| a much greater volume of home listening until this crescendo of ||
|| new material, "Clearing the Path to Ascendö. ||
|| ||
|| Consisting of just four tracks spanning 62 minutes the scale is ||
|| fully set on ævastÆ for the entirety of this release. You could ||
|| argue the song-writing element of YobÆs vastness is primarily ||
|| achieved, like many other key doom bands, from the slow and ||
|| considered pace of their song construction but that would be to ||
|| ignore the varied and magnificent sounds coming from the guitar ||
|| of band leader Mike Scheidt. The man is clearly a stickler for ||
|| tone and, quite possibly, a nightmare for a record producer, ||
|| but as befits someone who conducts a sound check with levels of ||
|| military precision his work alone throughout this record at ||
|| times outshines the actual songs beneath the veneer and is ||
|| fully deserving of the critical reputation Yob have earned. ||
|| Whether it is the washed out tone with a hint of bass which ||
|| leads for most of the lugubrious "Morrow" or the hazier, ||
|| caustic feel leading the Neurosis-esque sludge of "Nothing to ||
|| Winö, you, the listener will forever have a colourful palette ||
|| to ingest when listening to the breadth of "Clearing the Path ||
|| to Ascendö. ||
|| ||
|| It is the album closing "Morrow" which displays ScheidtÆs ||
|| varieties best as the slow, Ahab-like opening is gradually ||
|| subsumed until a tidal wave of power through which the clean ||
|| chords continue uninhibited under the heavier guitar track and ||
|| ScheidtÆs wavering vocals. Running like a redline through the ||
|| 19-minute track acts like a spine through which all other ||
|| features attach themselves to, the simple ingenuity of itÆs ||
|| central position helps the song comfortably fill that vast ||
|| expanse of time, notably so as it peaks with a gorgeous solo ||
|| which recalls classic Pink Floyd to lead the song into a final, ||
|| celebratory foray. Opener "In Our Blood" I can distinctly ||
|| remember from Roadburn, notably due to the total silence in the ||
|| auditorium during the æsoloÆ spoken word phase, where the ||
|| nakedness of the song at this point contrasts with the heaving, ||
|| pounding bass performance of Aaron Reiseberg and Travis ||
|| FosterÆs cymbal rides when it bursts to life like a violent ||
|| crack of thunder ninety seconds into its 17 minute span. ||
|| ||
|| "Nothing to Win" keeps a much faster beat for most of itÆs 11 ||
|| mins and sees Scheidt varying vocal styles from an audible ||
|| throaty bellow to a call-and-return later in the piece atop ||
|| FosterÆs fluctuating drum patterns. The inclusion of a ||
|| well-constructed faster track (especially of a total of just ||
|| four) is a great addition although I feel it could have ||
|| benefitted from a trimming of repetitive edges. This leaves ||
|| just "Unmask the Spectreö, the pre-released track which got me ||
|| so excited for the LP and arguably the best of the lot. Blessed ||
|| with dark, spacious intro chords and quiet vocals segueing into ||
|| glacial bass-led drones the song travels through a collection ||
|| of fantastic transitions where each beat forms a step further ||
|| into the abyss until the song reaches a zenith around 7 mins as ||
|| the onset of a æchorusÆ emerges like the turning of a corner ||
|| onto a vast, sunlit horizon. This senseless wonder is adequate ||
|| explanation of YobÆs reverence. ||
|| ||
|| Not for nothing is the upcoming London show of their tour with ||
|| Pallbearer sold out in advance. These are two great bands ||
|| bringing considerable new elements to doom metal, and while I ||
|| have heard and reviewed more consistently enjoyable records in ||
|| the genre than "Clearing the Path to Ascend" down the years, ||
|| IÆve not come across many with so much definition, for Yob ||
|| possess a unique potential to shake mountains while gently ||
|| caressing your soul. ||
|| ||
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