YAKUZA WAY OF THE DEAD
Century Media - 2002
By Rodrigo Escandon
There have been plenty of surprises in 2002, some for the good and some for the bad but the biggest one of them all has to be the second release Way of the Dead from Chicagos Yakuza. The task of the reviewer, yours truly, is to do the best job possible to describe the music, songs and elements of the album to the readers in an attempt to inform. What happens when the reviewer has absolutely no clue how to describe the band? That is my main problem with Yakuza and it is because of the wide array of influences from the band members (Miles Davis, Neurosis, Janes Addiction and Radiohead) that is incorporated into the band s music that I just cant easily fit them into one of the many genres of the metal world.
At the basic level, when you strip it all down, the sound of metal/hardcore like Neurosis is what first comes to mind. There are plenty of aggressive guitars and singing to induce serious head banging such as in TMS. But then you add eastern influences as well as saxophones and you come up with Vergasso. In Miami Device the calm distorted guitar sound at the beginning and at the end of the song with the backing bass and drumming is stunning. Obscurity is an amazing mixture of metal and free jazz and with an absolutely awesome saxophone duel between singer Bruce Lamont and Ken Vandermark (Chicago jazz mainstay). Another gem is Chicago Typewriter a song that is both slow and introspective as well as being fast and furious. Bruce at times reminds me of Black Francis, the singer from the excellent band the Pixies. The album ends with the jazzy and mesmerizing 40-minute instrumental 0100001110011 and that frankly is a song to be heard and not described because words will not do it justice.
Way of the Dead may be one of the most original releases of the year, there is absolutely nothing quite like it out there and its always good to hear something outside of the ordinary. With the term progressive thrown around to much (by me as well), it is sometimes forgotten what that exactly means. It is simply moving forward and advancing and Yakuza has definitely achieved that. Highly recommended.
Century Media Website
Yakuza Official Website
Century Media - 2002
By Rodrigo Escandon
There have been plenty of surprises in 2002, some for the good and some for the bad but the biggest one of them all has to be the second release Way of the Dead from Chicagos Yakuza. The task of the reviewer, yours truly, is to do the best job possible to describe the music, songs and elements of the album to the readers in an attempt to inform. What happens when the reviewer has absolutely no clue how to describe the band? That is my main problem with Yakuza and it is because of the wide array of influences from the band members (Miles Davis, Neurosis, Janes Addiction and Radiohead) that is incorporated into the band s music that I just cant easily fit them into one of the many genres of the metal world.
At the basic level, when you strip it all down, the sound of metal/hardcore like Neurosis is what first comes to mind. There are plenty of aggressive guitars and singing to induce serious head banging such as in TMS. But then you add eastern influences as well as saxophones and you come up with Vergasso. In Miami Device the calm distorted guitar sound at the beginning and at the end of the song with the backing bass and drumming is stunning. Obscurity is an amazing mixture of metal and free jazz and with an absolutely awesome saxophone duel between singer Bruce Lamont and Ken Vandermark (Chicago jazz mainstay). Another gem is Chicago Typewriter a song that is both slow and introspective as well as being fast and furious. Bruce at times reminds me of Black Francis, the singer from the excellent band the Pixies. The album ends with the jazzy and mesmerizing 40-minute instrumental 0100001110011 and that frankly is a song to be heard and not described because words will not do it justice.
Way of the Dead may be one of the most original releases of the year, there is absolutely nothing quite like it out there and its always good to hear something outside of the ordinary. With the term progressive thrown around to much (by me as well), it is sometimes forgotten what that exactly means. It is simply moving forward and advancing and Yakuza has definitely achieved that. Highly recommended.
Century Media Website
Yakuza Official Website
