Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - UZU

UZU is not a rock opera, but rather a piece of operatic rock. Don’t desert just yet, this isn’t Evanescence or some shit, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan create a doom-laden racket of Black Sabbath guitars, swirling psychedelic synths, propulsive percussion, fed through a filter of performance art and dramatic theatre. Taking inspiration from Japanese Noh theatre, heavy metal, psychedelia and Chinese Opera, UZU is ambitious, unhinged, and hungry.

Melodramatic opener “Atalanta” begins with the pounding chords of a grand piano and ghostly vocal wailing, it only needs slo-mo black and white footage of Willem Dafoe fucking and it would be like the beginning of a Lars Von Trier film. The purity of piano and vocals soon subsides, segueing into “Whalesong”, primed with pounding toms and the metallic buzz of guitar fuzz. As far as whale songs go, this isn’t so much the soothing ambient call of humpbacks in the deep blue, more like a beached whale, bloated and decaying and spontaneously exploding due to its own ever expanding mass of stomach gas.

The sludgy, primal stomp of “Lamia” sounds like a colossal jam from a Besnard Lakes / Goat supergroup tripping on mushrooms, moving swiftly into the spiralling electronic haze of “Windflower”. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan certainly throws all their weight and worth into the opening passage of UZU, tracks flow into each other, building new rich textures with each passing moment. The experience is gloriously delirious, if not a little disorienting. The wailing vocals of “Hall of Mirrors” propped up by double-kick drum percussion, jarring organ/guitar stabs, and the proggy, sonic assault crescendo provide the mid-LP high point.

Unfortunately, after a strong, albeit strange, start, UZU somewhat tails off from this point. “Seasickness p1” drags the tempo down to a virtual halt, whilst the spacey prog-rock synths and chugging military march guitar of “Seasickness p2” is a bit too campy and theatrical for this listener’s ears. “Bring Me The Hand Of Bloody Benzaiten” is a sort of throwaway instrumental track which leads into UZU’s final payoff, recent single “One”. Krautrock beats, post-punk guitar noise and a final smattering of howling, tribal vocals, “One” is the final celebratory flourish UZU needs before ending on more melodrama with the melancholic “Saturn’s Return”.

UZU is an ambitious piece of work to say the least, and whilst some of the metallic textures and tones may seem somewhat unfashionable these days, the purpose behind this record couldn’t be more forward-thinking and determined. Whilst sometimes guilty of chucking too much on record, you end up with the feeling that UZU would translate better as a live performance. Much like the difference between going to see an opera in the flesh and having it on record, the theatrical elements of UZU need to to be experienced in a multi-sensory setting to really have the desired impact. I for one, will be going to see Yamantaka // Sonic Titan live at the first opportunity I get.