Yob - Our Raw Heart review
| Band: | Yob |
| Album: | Our Raw Heart |
| Style: | Doom metal, Stoner metal |
| Release date: | June 2018 |
01. Ablaze
02. The Screen
03. In Reverie
04. Lungs Reach
05. Beauty In Falling Leaves
06. Original Face
07. Our Raw Heart
Coming so close to death would be a life-altering experience for anyone, so when it happened to Yob mainman Mike Scheidt, it did change his perspectives a lot. He linked it to having your hard dive crash, as you can only retrieve so much and the rest is lost. With there even having been doubts that Yob would continue, how does the change of perspective affect Our Raw Heart?
Thankfully, Yob is still Yob and no clash with death will change that. There are clear continuations of sounds from previous albums, whether the heavier or the more psychedelic ones, so, despite the trauma, Our Raw Heart still sounds like a Yob album, no doubt about it. But no other one before it could sound the way that it does, because indeed the perspective did change. Overall it's more of a subtle nuance in the first part of the record, but it becomes blatantly obvious later on.
Our Raw Heart is full of slow-burning songs, but that is to be expected of a 73-minute record full of songs over 10 minutes long. Even the heavier songs are in no rush to get anywhere, and as heavy as they are, they still have a different, more relaxed, and almost life-affirming feel under the aggression in the vocals. "The Screen" in particular has the heaviest riffs on the album, although I hadn't expected to hear such chug on a Yob album. Scheidt makes use of both his grunts and his singing voice, often in tandem, but relying more on the latter in the later part of the album.
"Original Face" is another one of the heavy songs, but this time sandwiched between the two longest and most airy songs on the record. And it is during those two songs that changes become apparent. "Beauty Of Fallen Leaves" turns the entire record on its head, oozing life-affirming emotions while completely evading being cheesy in any way. While the instrumental performance alone would be enough to pull some heartstrings, the vocals are absolutely, mesmerizingly emotional, in a way that we never heard Scheidt before. The title track does shed a bit of the intensity of the emotion, still maintaining the raw, heartfelt feeling.
As much as I take issue with songs and albums that are way too long, ironically the two longest songs are my favorite on the record. While I understand the need to build atmosphere and mood does indeed require a lot of space to manifest said atmosphere and mood, Yob has certain moments where it tends to fall a bit flat and feel like the songwriting has been a bit rushed. It is quite unfit to ask of doom to be more concise, and as heartfelt and engaging as some moments are, as tasteful as some jams are, as lush as it sometimes sounds, Yob still fall a bit short of being amazing. Still, this thing's qualities are undeniable.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 11.07.2018 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out. |
Comments
Comments: 12
Visited by: 136 users
| jmika Account deleted |
jmika
Account deleted
Rating this album an eight point zero, same as Gaerea and worse than Wayfarer (8.3) and Mesarthim (8.5), that says it all really. Don't read reviews on a general basis, or at least don't determine whether you're going to buy an album solely on these one man opinions/researches. This album has a lot going on, the originality of Yob shines through more than ever before, and the feeling/emotion in every note deserves praise. I'm not so fond of numbers and/or percentage when talking about how great an album is, but this certainly is top class doom/stoner/sludge (whatever). "Beauty in Falling Leaves" is probably one of the greatest songs in metal this year, maybe even the last 10-15 years. Again... putting numbers and/or comparing different compositions is something that I don't like doing. Make no mistake though: This music can be felt, it hits deep in the heart. This is coming from someone who likes all types of music, well... except from power metal and soul  PS: Every person are of course entitled to their very own opinion, and therefor I respect it. 9 out of 10 times "Our Raw Heart" WILL be rated higher than Mesarthim though.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 8629  |
Written by Guest on 11.07.2018 at 19:28 Look to reviews beyond just the somewhat arbitrary number we assign them. I understand why you would enjoy Yob more than I do. I enjoy doom a lot but for some reason Yob never really clicked with me as much as other bands do. I did praise the immense amount of emotion in both BIFL and the title track and I did say those are my favorite songs of the album, but I still feel that Wayfarer was more engaging and rewarding to listen to. I didn't review Mesarthim.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| jmika Account deleted |
jmika
Account deleted Written by RaduP on 11.07.2018 at 19:50 Well, the originality of Yob is high, and I can see why they don't "click" for everyone. They have a pretty unique sound. For that reason alone they deserve a higher rating, based on the ability to push boundaries, and doing it well. You rated Wayfarer a 9 on originality, and Yob got an 8. To be fair: Wayfarer's new album is not bad, but to say they are contributing with a new type of black metal is a huge overstatement (I am referring to the originality score of 9). Again... it's your opinion, and I find the reviews interesting. I just strongly disagree with the conclusion (mostly the rating of originality). In my book, even if you like the music or not: Yob's originality is exceptional, there are no other bands like them. The new Wayfarer is pretty much "run-of the-mill" black metal, we have heard it before. (Still slays though:))
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 8629 |
Written by Guest on 11.07.2018 at 20:33 No, it's not really. Sure, a lot of it is grounded is regular atmo black that is generic but no other band I know other than Untamed Land and Panopticon really manage to create a sound so unabashedly American and each in a slightly different way. Their new album makes this most obvious, compared to their previous ones, hence why I considered it more original than Our Raw Heart.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Fellow Duh Say Posts: 32 |
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 8629 |
Written by Fellow Duh Say on 11.07.2018 at 21:39 Your last statement is absolutely right. Certain moments of this album did remind me of Mirror Reaper but I think I'm more into Bell Witch than Yob. And I wouldn't really call the songwriting weak but there were more than one instance where I felt that the music was lacking something and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I just didn't feel as engaged as I thought I should feel. I respect Yob's achievements and this album's enormous qualities, but I can't ignore my gut feeling.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| MetalManic Posts: 624  |
I was thrilled to see both bands at the same gig the other night. My appreciation for Yob certainly heightened. Mike had an unexpectedly wicked stage presence which made the show more entertaining than I expected. Although I went there to see for Bell Witch, I have to say that I was pleased enough with YOB (live) to not miss them next time they're in town. To me, 'Ablaze' and 'Our Raw Heart' are quintessential summer songs. It's gonna be a good summer!
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| Ace Frawley The Spaceman Posts: 1458  |
The clean vocals on this album are quite reminiscent of Chris Cornell for me. Anyone else hear that?
---- The sun shines over The Fool...
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| jmika Account deleted |
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| jmika Account deleted |
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| Fellow Duh Say Posts: 32 |
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| MetalManic Posts: 624 |
Written by Ace Frawley on 12.07.2018 at 09:05 Ya, I was going to note the same. Especially on the track 'In Reverie'. Reminiscent (both vocally and instrumentally) of Soundgarden's 'Holy Water'. Both Seattle based vocalists. hmmmmmmmm.
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