Every now and then a band comes lumbering out of a scene and immediately places themselves right at the forefront. In this case the scene in question is Nashville. “Music City” has long been known as a Mecca of country, folk, bluegrass and the blues, amongst other genres. But Nashville has also seen it’s fair share of metal and punk bands as well. The band in question, leaping to the head of the class, is Yautja
For those who don’t know where the band name comes from…well, you clearly don’t watch enough Sci-Fi movies. In the alien pantheon the Yautja were the dreaded beasts we loving know as the “Predators”. That’s right, this band is named after those “ugly motherf*ckers” as Arnie once called them and it’s absolutely fitting. The Yautjas of cinematic fame were known as fierce warriors who traveled the galaxy, ritualistically hunting and murdering members of other advanced species for sport. This Yautja in question is the musical equivalent of their movie namesake, moving effortlessly from genre to genre laying waste to everything in their path with brutal heaviness and an unmatched ferocity. The only difference between the two is that the Predators will hunt amongst us, rarely ever detected until it’s too late and then escaping into the night. Yautja, the band, would rather kick your door down and kneecap you with ten ton iron rods of metal fury. Subtlety is not in this band’s vocabulary.
Mixing elements of hardcore and punk with doom-laden metal, Yautja’s sound is simply punishing. Tracks like “Faith Resigned”, for example, are a non-stop barrage of guitars, bass and drums that move together in synchronized fury. Tracks like “An Exit” are pit-starters that will appeal to grind and death metal fans alike. There are so many moving pieces and varying sounds on this album, yet where Yautja excels is mashing them all together in a way that doesn’t sound disconnected or forced.
Songs of Descent is Yautja’s debut album, which frankly is a little hard to believe. This is a band that sounds like they’ve been melting faces together for a long, long time. They keep playing like this and they will be. Songs of Descent hits the streets on February 4 via Forcefield Recordings.
