| From their break-out debut album ‘Amount to Nothing‘ in 2000, which was met with critical acclaim, YAKUZA have been a phenomenon in the world of heavy music, hot on the tongues of those who know. Their second album ‘Way of the Dead‘ in 2002 landed YAKUZA a deal with Century Media and worldwide notoriety, securing them live slots with like-minded progressive heavyweights like Candira, Opeth, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Lacuna Coil and Mastodon. Several albums of top tier eccentric metal followed with ‘Samsara‘ in 2006 which was recorded by Matt Bayles (Isis, Botch, Pearl Jam) and featured Sanford Parker, and Mastodon’s Troy Sanders; the jazzier and spaced-out ‘Transmutations‘ in 2007, and ‘Of Seismic Consequence‘ in 2010 and ‘Beyul‘ in 2012 respectively released on cult underground label Profound Lore. Like John Coltrane jamming with Napalm Death, Bruce Lamont (saxophone, vocals) has discussed an appreciation for Pink Floyd, Huun Huur Tu, Peter Brötzmann, Battles, Enslaved, Brighter Death Now, George Orwell, Ethiopian music, and Blut AusNord, perfectly picking up on the multifaceted angles that YAKUZA exhibits. Standing in a world utterly of their own making, YAKUZA’s unique mind-melting post-rock has never felt more ripe and fitting for the current state of the planet. Singer Bruce Lamont opts for letting YAKUZA’s music do the magic, explaining that, “Experience is subjective, and we hope each listener can come away with their own interpretation. We hope you go into this listening experience with an open mind and heart”. If ever there was a metal album where approaching with an open mind will reap rich rewards, then YAKUZA’s ‘Sutra’ is it. A thinking person’s extreme and inventive metal band, check out the first single “Alice” to have your expectations and understanding of heavy music turned upside down and inside out. A genre-crushing album of forward-thinking metal for the modern age, ‘Sutra’ is a powerhouse of unlimited expression and molten riffs. Formed in 1999, Chicago-based heavy hybridizers YAKUZA, are in a genre all of their own, which Pitchfork describes as “a specialized and strange alloy”. So eclectic and hard to pigeonhole, their music has been described over the years as everything from avant-garde metal, progressive metal, and alternative metal to experimental rock, jazz metal, art metal, and post-metal. Incorporating psychedelic rock jams that sprawl into heavy, sludging Doom with jazz influences, while also incorporating breakneck grind riffs and grooves, makes YAKUZA’s new album ‘Sutra’, a long-awaited and insanely enjoyable feast of frequencies. YAKUZA are: James Staffel-Drums and percussion Matt McClelland -guitar/ backing vocals Jerome Marshall- bass Bruce Lamont- vocals and saxophone |
