YOB

“Yob might be one of the best bands in North America,” declared Ben Ratliff in a feature New York Times article in March of 2010 that can be best described as gushing. The Eugene, OR-based doom metal trio has seen similar praise worldwide, with a growing host of fans citing the band as one of the most profound and accomplished doom metal phenomena of the 21st century. It’s all too rare for a band to reach such moderate success and massive acclaim based on sheer quality of music. There’s certainly no overt commercial bow on any of YOB’s five albums. Songs commonly stretch beyond the twenty minute mark, and to date there’s never been a radio edit or any effort to appease anyone but the band’s muse. Indeed, the shortest song on latest album opus The Great Cessation clocks in at over seven and a half minutes of bludgeoning heaviness and cosmic wandering. The journey began back in 1996 when vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mike Scheidt began composing classic doom metal riffs in the vein of his heroes Sleep, Cathedral, and Black Sabbath. By the turn of the millennium, the band had recorded debut album Elaborations of Carbon, and was rapidly growing from a NW secret, to ... more...