Review: YOB - Our Raw Heart

Release Date: June 8th 2018
Label: Relapse Records
Album Link:

"Your heart brings me home"

     Some of the best music comes through in times of raw emotion, that is undoubtedly true. Many artists write their best music when morose, or angry. It is unfortunate yes, but it is true for many artists. On the other side, some of the best lyrics are written to reflect emotions and lay bare the writer's true feelings. Now you throw Doom Metal in the mix, a genre whose name has literally come from the feeling it tries to evoke, made famous by bands like Black Sabbath, Candlemass, and Witchfinder General, and you get YOB. YOB, like many bands were once all about the Doom and Gloom that came with their chosen sound, and were good at it.

     However, something happened between their last album: Clearing the Path to Ascend and this one. Vocalist and Guitarist Mike Scheidt was diagnosed with Acute Diverticulitis last year, and it almost killed him. According to him, such a close brush with death irrevocably changed him and in Our Raw Heart that change is audible. Opposed to the Melancholy and Chain Dragging found in much Doom Metal, Scheidt and co. have given us an album so full of life, jubilation, vigour, and melancholy happiness that I struggle to even call it Doom Metal anymore.

     Our Raw Heart is far different than any other Doom Metal album I have ever heard, much more melody and even calm seeps through time and time again. "Ablaze" kicks off the album with the sound that we will come to expect from most of the rest of the album, very heavy and thick guitar tones show off both crushing rhythm sections and Scheidt's finger-picking talents. The great thing about "Ablaze" which again is seen on nearly the rest of the album, is how the trio of members of YOB sound so in tune with each other. I have not much to say about the drums or bass, or even guitars in particular. This is all because the three instruments coalesce perfectly together to create one mighty wall of sound. While I would consider "Ablaze" to be the weakest song on the album, it is to do with its kind of meandering structure and not due to the instrumentation or performance.

     The standout instrument on Our Raw Heart is really Scheidt's voice, frailer than it used to be due to his illness, he himself says he "has to restrain it so as not to rupture his already weakened diaphragm." Yikes. His husky vibrato echoes mournfully through most songs, while every once in a while he will unleash the shadow of his formerly powerful growl, now  dissolved to a deathly whisper. Though his voice is far less powerful sonically, the power lost is made up for in the spirit and heart Scheidt exudes, his renewed passion for this music and for life itself is purely contagious.

     The second track, "The Screen" is an uncomfortable listen  to say the least, this track is Scheidt's personal account of the waves of pain he felt in the ER, trying to hold it together while still in the waiting room: "There was no past, no future, no "me," no room that I was in, no body that I inhabited, no band, no family, and also no fear or sadness either. It was pure, and I mean pure pain, like being plugged into the light socket of all that is—a raw nerve ending of the universe." The song is repetitive and monotonous, and I'd wager, meant to evoke a very negative feeling. The stuttering, cyclical guitar riff that occupies the entire length of the song gets dizzying after 30 seconds, so by the end of "The Screen" you really do feel quite a sense of euphoria. It's tricky, because this song is less enjoyable to me than "Ablaze", but I feel that is what was trying to be done, and the song did its job. After the gears grind through to the end of "The Screen" the album does a bit of a left turn, with the more straightforward "In Reverie" taking the more traditional "Doom" route, sounding like Cathedral with a heavy bass tone that's far more audible here than on the rest of the album. Providing a sort of intermission for the two halves of the album, "In Reverie" is an enjoyable listen but not the reason I love this album.

      So now we come to the second half of the album, though it still runs up to 40 minutes in length. This is where the album truly settles into it's purpose and mastery. If the former 3 tracks didn't exist, I would be just as happy with this album as I am now. Not to say they are poor tracks, because they are not. My score will reflect that. Anyways, we come to "Lungs Reach" an intimidating monster of an interlude, for 3 minutes this song just lets you wallow in its harrowing atmosphere, with reverb coated, dissonant clean guitars. After the 3 minute breaking point, guitar, drums, and bass come in full force ushering Scheidt's scraping growls simply repeating "Lungs Reach" over and over, until both the band and his voice fizzle out in a gorgeous transition to the centrepiece of the album: "Beauty in Falling Leaves".

     This 16 minute epic is the most emotion filled track on Our Raw Heart and is perfect in structure and content. The melancholy of this song is clear, but there is a peaceful acceptance of the inevitability of death here as well, we are shown again just how thin Scheidt's voice has become, and it is bared raw for us hiding nothing. The strength of love is another thing seen here, Scheidt's repetition throughout the song of "Your heart brings me home"  shows that, and I believe is an ode to the support of his family through his hospitalisation. This song is the first to kick off "emotional gut punch trilogy" of the final three tracks on the album, and where the album really shines. Coming right off the heels of "Beauty in Falling Leaves" is "Original Face" the most exuberant and life honouring song on the album, launching the song with a powerful exclamation of "Life", we are treated to Scheidt's incessant energy exhibited throughout the song, and perhaps the fastest song YOB have created. There is a raw energy and restlessness heard on the song, and it never lets up. Two lines make up the best of the song, "A drum of unrest, beating in my chest" showing us Scheidt's anxious energy and proud, if not obvious proclamation that he is alive.

     Closing out the album with "Our Raw Heart" is a poignant choice, as it leaves you reflecting on what you've just listened to. It feel a bit awkward, as it is such a personal song. You feel like you're intruding on something, but YOB want us to come into their story. The title of the song, and album aren't Our Raw Heart for nothing though, they want us to see inside this journey they've been on, of "Life and Near-Death". Accompanying the very Post-Rock instrumental are Scheidt's personal reflections and bared honesties about his illness and the sheer miracle granted through his survival, hallucinations he had while in hospital, the installation of a temporary Ostomy bag, and his humble gratitude for all that was done for him.

     Much of this review reads as though Our Raw Heart is a solo album from Mike Scheidt, and though its not, his voice and experiences are what are most important on this album. This album is an open window into his psyche and life outlook in the year and a half since his illness, and while much of this album can sound oppressive, the breaks in melody and positivity outweigh the negative, because they are so much more powerful; and there is something very meaningful that can be gleaned from that.

Favourite Track: Original Face 

9/10