Yob "The Illusion of Motion" CD
[Metal Blade]
This is my first exposure to this trio, here dropping four tracks of fairly creative doom in a massive 56 minutes. There's a definite sense of the classic style here, with notable influences from Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus, but the overall feel is even darker and more sinister, drawing comparisons to mid-period Neurosis or Mindrot and such to keep things heavier and more modern in tonality (literally and atmospherically). "Hall of Molten Lead" kicks things off by opening with some windy background textures and eerily reverberated clean chords and softly spoken vocals before building in with percussion and distorted guitars. Monotone singing vocals finally creep in with some watery effects giving them a little added distance as the chords get much more subtly discordant and cool melodic lead lines start to build into the distance, carrying on for varying degrees for the remainder of the 11 minutes. "Exorcism of the Host" wastes no time in cranking out some monstrous open chords and growled vocal howls at a slower and more aggressive and destructive tempo that has much more of a funeral march kind of style to it, complete with bashing percussion and tolling bells in the distance. The vocals get more and more insane with unhinged screams and strange effects as things move along and lots of swirling guitar textures come in around the core rhythm, which is really quite impressive overall. At a mere six minutes, "Doom #2" is by far the shortest track herein, starting off with some completely uncharacteristic riffs that have more of a twisted hardcore/punk angle involved, not only because they're a little faster, but just the overall feel of the tempo and the note combinations. It adds a well-needed blast of energy some 24 minutes into the record. Very cool, and not at all what one would expect based on the song title or the preceding tracks! The title track ends things out, running a mammoth 26 minutes that's damn near as long as the other three cuts combined. The composition frequently shifts back and forth in volume with one of the slowest and most sparse chord progressions herein, plodding along very consistently and very gradually. A later-Godflesh sounding break comes along just past 10 minutes or so, slightly more harmonic in nature, and a nice variation from the first half of the song - before slowing down even more. For the most part the songs are built around thick, driving chord progressions with a good amount of melody and slight dissonance adding extra character to the playing (though numerous dynamic shifts in vocal style and the level of guitar distortion also play a good role), but they definitely achieve a powerful emotional sensibility in their songwriting, and the way that they blend the new and the old as far as musical points of reference/influence is quite effective. Really the only thing that starts to get to me after awhile is the singing, as it almost sounds pitch-shifted up a little, it's so odd... was the singing a little deeper everything would be fuckin' perfect. I have no quarrels with the recording, however. Everything is ultra thick and mixed together fucking great, with no real gaps and just the right amount of clarity. I'm totally unclear as to how they've managed to keep things so tight and yet distinct, but fuck it. The bass tone is oppressive but has its own character, the guitars are very textured and work just in front of the bass, the percussion sounds natural and fills the space well, and the vocals drone right along with the instruments. Good work there, for sure. The layout has a pretty significant tripped out 70's thing happening, but in a dark manner, with images/textures relating to fire and water interspersed with shots of the band and outer space imagery - always maintaining a consistent aesthetic. The content of the songs is kind of strange at times, definitely keeping things a little open-ended rather than beating anything into the ground: "Overjoyed with our pain, Fall asleep another thousand years, I hope we find eternal rest in the bed that we've made, Solace is within the grasp of those who embrace this life..." I'm really digging this. I had no idea what to expect from it and Metal Blade is an inconsistent label in my eyes as far as quality goes, so this is a damn solid release that deserves a bit more attention. Fans of the doom genre should absolutely look into this, but it would definitely appeal to a wider range of listeners due to its creative approach to the style, so it's not at all a typical album. Nice work. (7/10)
Running time - 56:27, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: Exorcism of the Host, Doom #2]
Metal Blade Records - http://www.metalblade.com

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