Yob - The Unreal Never Lived

For the last week of 2006, I'll highlight some bands that called it quits this year. I know my obsession with dead bands verges on the morbid, and if your band shows up in my blog, it's probably dead, starting out, or underperforming marketwise. But success ain't a meritocracy, and I'd rather give space to deserving artists who don't usually get it.

Eugene, OR band Yob crushed me with their last two albums, then crushed me in January when they split up. It's tough in doom metal to strike a balance between heaviness and forward motion, but Yob did so with subtle precision, especially on their last album, The Unreal Never Lived (Metal Blade). Songs strode forward with undeniable momentum, yet were heavier than a buffet queue in Texas. For three guys, they made a ton of noise. I'm sad I never saw them live, as to this day I wonder how/if they achieved the density they got on record through overdubs, panning, etc.

Yob sounded like Black Sabbath on a Buddhist trip. Singer/guitarist Mike Scheidt, whose voice was curiously Dave Mustaine-esque, had an interest in Eastern mysticism that reflected in Yob's sound. The band did lumbering, detuned riffs as well as any, but it also had spacy melodies that spiraled seemingly endlessly skyward. Dig the "Hotel California on acid" licks 6:54 into "Grasping Air."

Yob - Grasping Air

Scheidt has a new trio called Middian, which sounds like Yob with a slightly rockier edge. They've signed to Metal Blade, and judging from their MySpace, they've finished a new album for 2007, with snazzy artwork by Ross Sewage from Impaled and Ludicra. Until this next incarnation of psychedelic doom, you can find TUNL at The End.