Modern music is either firmly rooted to the place in which it was conceived, or it’s designed to trick you into thinking it was made somewhere else. These are the only two options, and you can tell a lot about what values the music’s meant to represent by the choice that the artists have made.
YYYY is a stoner metal album that draws inspiration from the classics of the genre, but very much tries to draw a picture of the surroundings in which it was created.
But this is becoming a rarity, especially in metal. Most extreme metal bands would like nothing more than to convince you that they were formed in Bergen, Norway, when really they’re from Oakland. Many European bands will do their best to ape Anglo-American bands. And all the rest will play the role that they think you need them to play.
YYYY’s EP, “ima,” is a collection that lulls you to sleep with punishing guitar riffs and quaking drums. Yeah, they’ve heard Melvins and Boris. But much of these are original sounds that paint a picture of the strange and mysterious country of Guatemala, home to Mayan pyramids and ancient cities placed underneath active volcanoes.
If you’re one of the many who has drooled over Icelandic atmospheric music, there’s no reason you wouldn’t turn on your fascination once more for this one. Take, for example, the EP’s opening song, “haiku 2,” where the sludgy guitar riffs blend with vocals that carry with them a rhythm native to Central America. Can you hear the jungle roar?
Or, listen to “verukte loitte” where the feedback of the amps the sound that accompanies the first 30 seconds of the song before being balanced out by ghostly chanting. The song, featuring Ethel Solis, then transitions into parts that do bring to mind 90s metal, but could also comfortably soundtrack a movie about Mayan rituals and the Spanish invasion of the Americas.
Where does this all leave us? YYYY create a large, powerful sound, the kind fit for a slow-aching nightmare. The band draws inspiration from other great bands. But the group’s goal is not merely to copy or to overwhelm you with sound. The final track, “disonancia y disforia + el vacio invertido,” does work with dissonant, unfriendly tones, but ends up sounding like a heavy-metal variation on some ancient spell.
“Ima” might just be a short taster. But it proves that YYYY have intriguing ideas on which they’re working. And, besides, the record should convince all the metalheads colouring over their roots, to make those available for all to see.
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