Yatra – Blood of the Night (STB Records, 31 January 2020)

Hello again! If you were here yesterday, you would have noticed we shared the news about the Shadow Frost Music & Arts Festival coming up later this month in central Maryland.

One of the acts scheduled to perform at that event is Yatra, doom-drenched trio from the extreme eastern part of that state, whose second album — just released last week — we will be studying today.

Talking about music in the slow and heavy stoner/doom neighborhood, it really feels like a tired cliché to mention a Black Sabbath influence, but honestly without that classic inspiration where would these genres be today … if they would even exist at all?

Having said that, most of the eight tracks that comprise Blood of the Night are built upon a solid foundation of Vol. 4-style riffs and guitar tones, just slowed a bit and therefore sounding that much heavier and doomier; and as an added treat you’ll find plenty of old-school metal guitar solos sprinkled all over the place. On top of that, to kick things into an even heavier gear, the whole record employs a gruff black/death roaring type of vocals, somewhere between Chuck from Death and Chuck from The Nightmare.

Highlights here include the deathly-slow waltz of “After the Ravens” around the middle of the album; and closing track “Surrender” which (like many of the other songs here) tends to bounce back and forth to a somewhat quicker tempo, and whose main riff has kind of a bluesy-jazzy swing to it (like the main riff in “Electric Funeral”).

The name Yatra comes from the word (यात्रा in Sanskrit) for a religious pilgrimage in the Hindu religion; famously these treks are as much about experiencing the journey as they are about reaching a destination. So my advice for you is to kick back, imbibe whatever you like to help you get into a mellow or introspective mood, throw this record on your turntable (or streaming device, if you must), and enjoy the journey!

Grab your copy of Blood of the Night in various formats here — or find exclusive variants (including a vinyl test press) direct from STB.

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