James Rexroad
Two years after leveling the expectations of critics and listeners alike with Atma, Portland doom bringers, YOB, prepare to unleash Clearing The Path To Ascend, an aptly titled album for what will undoubtedly be the crowning achievement for a band whose journey now nears two decades of creating music as commanding as it is cathartic. As is the YOB way, the tracks here don’t simply offer a vacuous glimpse into the already riff-soaked doom genre. These songs demand the tandem attention of mind, body, and soul – etching a mark across a sound that finds YOB as formidable and unequaled as they’ve ever been. True ascension requires a destruction of those barriers that prevent any movement forward. Unsurprisingly, YOB pummels any and all of these obstacles with absolute authority, clearing the way for a genuinely visceral listening experience and climbing upward into a realm that sets the band in a heavy metal place that has been and will always remain wholly their own.
Recorded at Gung Ho Studio in Eugene, notorious for its reserve of vintage equipment, alongside longtime collaborator/iconic sound-sage Billy Barnett, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Beastmilk, Nails) at Audiosiege Engineering, YOB will release Clearing The Path To Ascend on CD and digitally via Neurot Recordings on 1 September, and on vinyl via Relapse Records on 2 September.
Clearing The Path To Ascend preorder bundles are currently available:
For CD orders
For special T-shirt bundles
YOB will bring their riff domination to AMPLIFEST 2014 on October 4th \m/