My first experience of the Nashville, Tennessee, noise mercenaries Yautja came at the tail end of 2019, back when it was relatively easy to travel, before the world turned into the stinking mess it is now. I found myself in the tiny Ziemia venue in Gdansk, Poland, excitedly awaiting the Swiss firebrand punks Coilguns, when I was unexpectedly knocked for six by the strangely named support act. So impressed was I with the almighty racket they created, I did my customary trick of purchasing some merch to show my appreciation. Obviously in the cold light of day the t-shirt is wholly inappropriate and can never be worn outside the house, in fact this particular garment can’t even be worn inside the house, whilst alone. It was a fantastic gig from two incendiary noisy hardcore bands, although Yautja’s name may be tricky to spell, like their music it’s not something easily forgotten.
Yautja’s sound is as ugly as the name suggests; like being chased by a merciless killer that will stop at nothing until the listener’s head is on a spike. The name, you see, refers to the species of alien that hunt for sport in the Predator films and comics. The Lurch is Yautja’s debut release with Relapse Records; taking their hardcore blueprint from previous offerings Songs of Descent and Songs of Lament and marking a giant leap forward in progression. It’s a more cohesive album, gone are the sub two minute blasts, replaced with something more akin to ‘songs’, but I use that term loosely. There are no rules to Yautja’s music, no obvious structure and certainly no choruses, at times comparable to a brutal, metal version of experimental jazz. Opener ‘A Killing Joke’ doesn’t waste time with formalities, a massive punch in the face right from the start. It features speeding, barrelling riffs with Trap Them style guitars, barked vocals and a low rumbling bass that gnaws at the skull.
There’s no time to bleed though, as ‘The Spectacle’ lumbers into view, bludgeoning the listener with a grinding, winding, lurching riff and Tyler Coburn’s drumming which is a spectacle in itself. Tyler (Thou and Mutilation Rites) is ferocious on this track and throughout, treating the audience to waves of blast beats and crazy timing, taking some tracks into frenzied grindcore territory. He plays like a monster and is totally unpredictable; to paraphrase a quote from the original film, “there’s something out there drumming for us, and it ain’t no man”. There’s so much going on here; ‘Undesirables’ is slow, disjointed and erratic, that’s not a criticism, it’s like that by design, topped off with a huge bass and dissonant squealing guitars. ‘Before the Foal’ brings the album to a close with its stop/start staccato riffing, which is enjoyable and purposefully frustrating in equal measure, culminating in an explosion of bass pedals and cymbals.
The Lurch is the sound of a band discontented with the world around them; a dense, uncomfortable and disorientating listen, setting out to obliterate the audience and leave a bloodied pulp in its wake. It’s a thunderous cacophony that bombards from all angles, full of heavy arsed riffs, which sometimes creep up and lodge in the brain and sometimes batter profusely over the head. Occasionally music this extreme may wear the listener down and become tiresome, but that’s not the case here. Yautja dip in and out of various genres; grindcore, punk, hardcore and sludge, keeping it fresh, mixing together the abrasive confrontational elements of Full of Hell, the groove of Converge and the hulking riffs of The Ditch and the Delta. The Lurch is the soundtrack to a nightmare, like someone flailing and thrashing around uncontrollably, trying to escape…but escape isn’t possible. It’s time to wallow in the mud and embrace Yautja; by the power of music they’ll rip out your spine in front of your eyes and you’ll bloody love it.
(9/10 James Jackson)
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