A journey can be many things to many people. It could be a trip down to the local shops, day-tripping around your local region, or a full-on excursion to places far away from your usual haunts. We’ve all been on a journey lately, particularly with our minds, due to stupid bloody viruses and whatnot. I understand that Yatra indicates a procession or a pilgrimage, particularly with a religious purpose. Utilizing their mixture of Sludge/Stoner/Doom metal, Yatra is taking us further on their next pilgrimage with the release of “Born into Chaos” and man what a splendid journey it is.
Formed in 2017, this three-piece band from Maryland has been regularly churning out albums since 2019, “Born into Chaos” being their 4th full-length. What you get is gnarly, sludgy riffs, toe-curling and nasty, with an uncompromising arrangement of groove and melody. Vocals are at times bleak but are also raised to an animalistic roar that, along with deafening percussion, resoundingly blends to provide a resolute backdrop for any journey you have in mind.
Submerging into the murky depths of dismal and viscous atmospherics that Yatra has spewed forth, we find the title track, “Born into Chaos,” which has a riff so chunky you could carve it, just before it shakes the pillars of your house foundations.
“Terminate By The Sword” and “Reign Of Terror” both have blackened beast mode vocals permeating through with deep dark chugging riffs and intense rhythm section that propels these tracks along. There are brief moments of light that are produced through faster riffs and melody.
The last track on the album, “Termination,” has a dense and relentless sound along with a skull-crushing hook and a massive drum sound that oozes out of the speakers like some desolate slimy entity entering earth’s dimension for the first time.
Now, I only picked the aforementioned tracks to give everyone a bit more of an understanding of what you can expect from this album. They are by no means the best tracks on the album just the ones that gave me chicken skin and stuck in the mire that is the workings of my grey matter. You could make an argument for “Wrath Of The Warmaster” or “Omens Of Fire” as the pick of the bunch, but that would be your journey to take, and you would get no argument from me. They are all extremely worthy tracks.
Yatra is a remarkable trio of musicians with Dana Helmuth as their leading vocalist/guitarist. Bassist Maria Geisbert and intrepid drummer Sean Lafferty both have their enormous talents on display as well. “Born into Chaos” releases June 10, but if you can’t wait until then, jump across to YouTube and have a listen. May you enjoy your journey as much as I did mine.
4.5/5
Links:
The Metal Wanderlust 