Thursday, October 25, 2012

[2012] Yoga - Skinwalker

Don’t get your hopes up just yet, ‘Skinwalker’ isn’t a follow-up to 2009’s incredible ‘Megafauna’, but it isn’t to be scoffed at either as it’s a retitled and fresh new pressing of Yoga’s much sought after self-titled debut album. Initially released on cassette only, this was the record where the band made their statement of intent, and for anyone who hasn’t managed to hear it yet it’s just about as essential as they come. It’s creaking, lo fidelity metal at its finest, eroded to the point where it might not even rock at all as it disintegrates into dusty, wailing, shrieking noise. You could almost compare it with William Fowler Collins’ dense ‘The Resurrections Unseen’, as the tape hiss and recording grime ands up acting as another band member rather than a hindrance to be removed ‘in the mix’. Goblin and noise metal lich lords Wold are chalked up as influences, but this only scratches the surface as Yoga plow through reels of discarded foley sound, corroded synthesizer drones and the kind of damp, warbling atmospheres that James Ferarro has made his calling card over the last few years. The further you fall down the rabbit hole, the weirder and more inviting ‘Skinwalker’ becomes, and all traces of metal disappear into a psychedelic, transcendent, drug-induced haze.

Tracklist:
01. Open Sesame 05:21
02. Littlefoot 04:42
03. The Necromancers Goblin Ha' 06:12
04. Lemurian Dreams 02:03
05. Cosmic Safari 05:46
06. Mothman 03:43
07. Star-Spawn of Cthulhu 03:57
08. Emin and Anakim 05:08

No comments:

Post a Comment