LIFE IS NOISE is pleased to announce the support acts for Yob’s Australian tour this August.
Yob play their first ever show on our shores in Perth at The Rosemount on August 19 , support comes from the somber reflections of drone duo Alzabo, featuring members of Cease and Mink Mussel Creek. But first: behold the crushing waves of blackened doom quartet Dirac Sea.
At Enigma Bar in Adelaide on August 20, support comes from the elephantine riffage of stoner doom behemoths Space Bong, who are finally ready to unleash their new album that’s been four years in the making. They’ll be joined by Crypt, boasting rock-the-fuck-out jams at breakneck speeds.
At Yob’s Melbourne show at Max Watt's (formerly The HiFi) on Friday August 21, submit to the otherworldly barbaric majesty of one of the nation’s heaviest collectives, Whitehorse. But to begin, genuflect and show your reverence for the funereal dirge of doom-death prophets Inverloch.
In Sydney on Saturday August 22 at Manning Bar, warm up to the searing sounds of Australia’s fastest stoner riff lords, Sumeru. Get down early for some invasive respiratory therapy from noise thrash enthusiasts Thorax.
Rounding out the tour on August 23 at Crowbar in Brisbane, support comes from Relapse Records signees Hope Drone, who’ll be riding the waves of newly released punishing long-player, Cloak of Ash. Opening hymns will be screamed by Queensland’s resident hypno-occultists Frown.
In 2014, Yob released the best doom metal album of the year. Near universally praised, Clearing the Path to Ascend topped Rolling Stone’s list of the best metal albums and was critically lauded by everyone from Pitchfork to The New York Times. Never has doom metal been at the forefront of the public consciousness like this, and it’s easy to see why: though it’s come almost two decades into their existence, Yob have made not just the best album of their career – they’ve made what will come to be regarded as one of the defining records in the pantheon of doom metal.
Which is not to say any of this came easy. Few bands hit their creative stride after seven records and almost twenty years, and Yob’s recording career has led them to stints with Metal Blade and Profound Lore before settling at their current home with spiritual siblings Neurosis at their label Neurot Recordings. The Neurosis comparison is obvious, but for every moment of earth-shaking post-metal, there are flourishes of old-school, soul-crushing sorrow that hark back to Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus; for every Earth-like meditation, there’s a measured catharsis of energy that recalls the explosive sludge of Melvins.
What makes Clearing the Path to Ascend such a landmark record is its stellar two-track second half. While the album’s opening act bathes in layers of funereal dirge and existential dread, its penultimate and closing tracks mark one of the genre’s finest half-hours as the trio push through to the other side of hell. With every repetition, Mike Scheidt’s riffs grow all the more hypnotic, his pious incantations ever-more compelling. Yob have succeeded where many of their contemporaries fail, imbuing the oft-tired tropes of a monolithic genre with untold emotion and transcendent zeal. This is doom metal reborn.
Yob’s live show is everything you’d want from a power trio. From frenetic riffs and furious drumming to slow, crushing doom, a Yob gig is less a performance and more a communal brain-fuck. They hold their audience transfixed with brief moments of brooding, atmospheric, almost ambient respite, before pulverising them with a massive, brutal crush of noise.
Witness Yob on their first ever Australian tour on the following dates:
Perth - August 19 - Rosemount Hotel
Adelaide - August 20 - Enigma Bar
Melbourne - August 21 - Max Watt’s
Sydney - August 22 - Manning Bar
Brisbane - August 23 - Crowbar
Tickets on sale now through lifeisnoise.com, Oztix and venue outlets.
