These guys are dubbed by some as jazzcore, mainly because they employ a sax player in their permanent lineup, though they do have jazz in there too. I've heard their earlier album Way of the Dead, and the new album Samsara, which, while the previous one was excellent, is a masterpiece in my opinion.

They sound reminescent of Neurosis at times (especially the singer reminds me of Neurosis' vocals), and of Converge and the likes when they get fast, but what really sets Yakuza apart are the serene pictoresque moments when they build awesome soundscapes with the help of the saxophone in ways that at times reminded me of Amorphis's Tuonela (well, they used a sax too there).

I don't know how you're going to feel, but for me, this has been some of the more refreshing discoveries recently. Truly excellent.

At www.myspace.com/yakuza you can find two tracks, Vergasso and Chicago Typewriter off Way of the Dead, and one, Cancer Industry off Samsara. One track won't do justice to the whole album, so if you can, I recommend you get the whole album and enjoy

This sounds really sweet, man I am listening to Vergasso right now and it´s beautiful. I wonder if the Japanese imagery and name have a reason or are they just using it for fun. The latter wouldn´t be a bad thing btw because, as I said, I like it very much.

@uku, if you check out their website www.yakuzadojo.com you'll see that the Japanese imagery doesn't stop at the name, but it still doesn't explain how serious they are with it

Wow this is great! Listening to Way of the Dead right now.

Thanks a lot for mentioning this band here! I like it a lot!

I have listened Samsara and i think this is a refreshing metal band that takes us to different emotional states and that saxo fits realy cool. Great band that gives a contribution to the evolution of metal that not makes the easy think that is the repetition of a cook letter.

I was listening to Samsara again today and the soundscapes just blow me away every time.

I also got a look at some live footage of them, and it looked amazing. The trippy sax parts, where everyone is just jamming like in trance, and then suddenly it all explodes into a volley of staccato guitar rhythms with the sax player swinging his brass down and grabbing the mic. Yea, the sax player and the guitarist seemingly split vocal duties.

Written by Guest on 09.06.2006 at 19:32

I was listening to Samsara again today and the soundscapes just blow me away every time.

I also got a look at some live footage of them, and it looked amazing. The trippy sax parts, where everyone is just jamming like in trance, and then suddenly it all explodes into a volley of staccato guitar rhythms with the sax player swinging his brass down and grabbing the mic. Yea, the sax player and the guitarist seemingly split vocal duties.

Amazing
I hope to see them someday. Besides, Yakuza is not popular and a possible concert of them will be in a small place, and that´s good.

@InMist, go check out their myspace page, www.myspace.com/yakuza There's a live video of them performing Back to the Mountain there. Great song off the Samsara album.

I found this band like a week ago, I'm listening their first work "Amount To Nothing" right now.
Sometimes Yakuza reminds me Ephel Duath in the painter's palette...must be the sax.

Great recommended band.

Written by Guest on 17.06.2006 at 00:00

@InMist, go check out their myspace page, www.myspace.com/yakuza There's a live video of them performing Back to the Mountain there. Great song off the Samsara album.

That video don´t work
Thanks They have connections with bands that i like and not only...it´s a cool place to know bands because we can ear something from them (for example Nels Cline)

Never really heard the band. Just a few snippets from downloads. But, so far love what I've heard. Agree with eveyone about how great this band is. Definitely need to check them out more.

I checked their MySpace and I really liked the sound of this band. I'm deffinitely getting them soon.

It's both overwhelming.. and bad.

The vocals really turn me off. Too 'Hardcorish' for me. (Yes, i'm gonna get flamed for that)

Though the music is very good, so I'm gonna try and see if I can get used to those vocals. They deserve it.

I loved their original line up much better personally. But then again Im from Chicago...

Listened some songs by them, I can say I like them, an interesting sound, maybe I would even by an album by them, but something in their music puts me off too. So I can't say it is perfect. Can't even understand what it is. But overall I enjoyed it quite a lot, very good interesting music. I like the jazzy and little bit dirty sound.

Their new album Of Seismic Consequence is excellent. It's my first exposure to the band so I can't really compare to previous albums, but after reading this thread I'd GUESS it's a bit different. I don't notice the "hardcorish" elements Lucas refers to, and it's not quite as jazzy as I might have expected if I'd read this thread before hearing the album.

It's really lovely - make sure you hear it before putting together your 2010 Top lists

Written by Susan on 08.01.2011 at 17:43

Their new album Of Seismic Consequence is excellent. It's my first exposure to the band so I can't really compare to previous albums, but after reading this thread I'd GUESS it's a bit different. I don't notice the "hardcorish" elements Lucas refers to, and it's not quite as jazzy as I might have expected if I'd read this thread before hearing the album.

It's really lovely - make sure you hear it before putting together your 2010 Top lists

I agree!

I saw them supporting supporting Triptykon and 1349. They were... Interesting. Gave off a major Neurosis vibe for sure, although I found them to be quite boring.

Their latest album, that i only came across when i saw it nominated on the Metal Storm Awards came to be very good album, shame i didnt get to listen to it before!

@Lyrinan this last album it's diferent from their previous,it's more ambiental or atmospheric if you want...

I haven't really listened to them, but the vocalist/sax player Bruce Lamont made a pretty cool solo album of experimental and ambient rock called Feral Songs For The Epic Decline. Starts quite strong with tunes that evoke comparisons to Dead Can Dance and Swans, but admittedly meanders a bit too much and gets boring towards the end. Still, I figure Yakuza fans may appreciate it.