Yakuza : "Sutra"

 Chicago Avant - Guardians are back. It's been over ten years since their last release. There is a more focused intention to bring the heavy here. Bruce Lamont, moans with more anger on the off-kilter opening track that is framed with dissonance. "Alice" has a deliberate metal chug kicks it into motion. The music shifts under the vocals. In many ways, it feels like a noise rock band that managed to capture a massive sound by mistake and shed punk aspirations for metal grandiosity. There is a grungy atmosphere when their thoughts turn inward, which keeps a great dynamic balance.  "Echoes From the Sky" has a more math rock chaos, that keeps the pulse of the song writhing through the riffs that are being thrown. This rougher edge does cause them to compromise the melody, leaving Bruce to yell at you more often than not here. It might sound like sludge if it was slowed down some. As I typed those words that is what happened. The result is more like a Swans like creep, as the burly bass keeps booming behind them. e

"Embers" finds them ebbing down into a more Doors like place where Bruce's croon feels most comfortable. "Capricorn Rising' works off a similar vibe before midway into the song it bursts into a pretty much straight up metal attack . There is a thrashed out sludge feel to it that reminds me of earlier Mastodon. " Burn Before Reading" carries this energy further into a metal maelstrom. The chug of the guitars has a more thrash influence aggression to the tension being held. Two and a half minutes into it, there is a shift into a more atmospheric section for the sax to float along. They come hammering back with more sludge tinged syncopation. I like the dark exotic slither of "Walking God". The moodier moments are some of the album's strongest. It builds up into a gradually heavier deliberation with it settling down like a storm. 

"Into Forever" is almost like a Melvins song. It's has a cool straight up metal riff that drives it, with left of center vocals, so occupies the same space as the Melvins. The odd vocal phrasing, which comes from a much less emotionally aggressive place than most metal , keeps up it's weird streak for "Psychic Malaise". This song is not as catchy as the others. The riffs are jerked around with a bit of awkwardness. This creates the effect I think they are going for, however I am not sure how pleasing it is to my ears in this instance. There is a more spacious mood as if they are sailing into the dusk on the last song, slowly builds with a more epic dynamic on the last song. They do proggy in a weird way, which is more accurate if you are thinking about bands like Vander Graf Generator and King Crimson, though the song converges upon the more sludged-out riffage that empowers the bulk of this album. I will give this album a 9, as it's return to form for the band though takes close notes from their peers. Highly enjoyable listen, let's see how it grows on me.