YOB: CLEARING SPACE, DIGGING DEEP

James Rexroad

YOB have never shied from the big questions. Throughout their 18-year career, the Oregon band have made a name for themselves by lacing speculations on quantum physics and God into their mountainous, roaring doom metal. They’re known for records that crawl toward an hour on a track listing just four songs long. They’ve sampled philosopher Alan Watts on multiple albums, including their last full-length, Atma, fitting snippets from his lectures into pauses in the noise. Among metal’s often tongue-in-cheek images of blood and guts, YOB stand out with a sincere yearning to explore cosmology, philosophy, even religion. Their live shows aim for a kind of transcendence, for a temporary community forged around the music’s sheer size—church, only louder.

While we wait for October 4th, read the full Noisey interview here. You’ll have a good time.