I’m starting to really hate surprises considering we wake up to so many bad ones each day. Yet, a few weeks before its Halloween release date, I found an unexpected one in my inbox, one that instantly made me pine for the day and get everything out of the way so I could absorb this album properly: in total seclusion. It was the new Yellow Eyes record, and from the moment I heard it, I knew it would be my record of the year.
“Confusion Gate” is a mesmerizing opus from black metal force Yellow Eyes. To say the album is moving, monstrous, breathtaking, and completely from this band’s artistic DNA would almost go without saying. But there’s more depth, different sounds, and a reinvigorated machine—vocalist/guitarist Will Skarstad, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Sam Skarstad, bassist Alex DeMaria, drummer Michael Rekevics. Inspired heavily by their 2023 release “Master’s Murmur,” this record takes that spirit and electrifies it, making it a full on beast of the woods, stalking and opening strange doorways to realms not before considered. It’s a stunning display, and I still stop listening to it. It put it on in my car and almost instantly think I should give something else some time. Nah, I adore this, the second-to-last in Gilead Media’s storied history, by the way.
“Brush the Frozen Horse” opens with familiar chimes and the gentle arms of nature before everything erupts, keys blaring and guitars bending you into corners. Howls snarl as the steam rises, the guitars taking on a higher tone that noticeably ramps up, the tempo spiraling and crushing, disorienting as the leads soar. Speed strikes as the pace combusts, blasting into a synth scape that melds with the fog. “The Thought of Death” starts with airy sax you would expect from an adult contemporary song, but it’s a misdirect as riffs explode out of that, and the vocals maul. Emotional waves crash down as guitars sparkle and melt, and a strong, violent push jolts every bone. “I Fear the Master’s Murmur” opens with acoustics ringing out and voices swirling, and then everything goes off, fierce growls pounding the way, beastly sentiments making the pressure even more intense. The playing splatters into strange melodies, the guitar lines tingling your spine, confusion overwhelming as you try to find your balance. “The Scent of Black Mud” starts in mesmerizing form. The drums punish as the vocals strengthen their grip, wrenching as the playing plasters and undoes some brain wiring. The leads turn to icy tributaries, and then the spirit rampages forward, wrecking as everything scatters, impulses continuing to fire until the notes fade. This is a record that will live with me in perpetuity along with a bunch of other non-stop classics that made me who I am. A timeless release. (Oct. 31)
For more on the band, go here: https://yelloweyes.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/collections/gilead-media-releases
For more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/
Meat Mead Metal 