Yatra – Death Ritual (Review)

Yatra are a doom band from the US and this is their debut album.

Now here we have an album that’s infused with darkness; it’s almost tangible, but in a warm, smoky way. Mixing ugly doom, riff-hungry stoner, blackened sludge, and harsh drone influences into 45 minutes of material, Death Ritual showcases the dark underbelly of doom metal.

The songs are fuzzy and heavy, with plenty of slow-moving groove and sparse melody. Yatra include the occasional element of nuance and subtlety here and there, but for the most part it’s distorted stoner/sludge/doom metal the entire way.

The band’s psychedelic and hypnotic delivery is counterbalanced by the grim menace of the sludgy, black metal-esque vocals that sound as if the singer is attempting occult invocations. The two work in concert, however, to produce music that balances harshness with a more familiar, almost accessible tone, albeit one that’s steeped in darkness and wreathed in obscuring smoke.

Fans of bands such as Huata, Cough, Dopethrone, Warhorse, Eyehategod, and Shadowmaster should definitely give this a listen.