YOB's heart is full of raw emotion

Any given experience can garner many different forms. Its outlook can be changed by the event and even the individual it influences. In the wake of Scheidt’s difficult previous year, YOB has gifted Our Raw Heart – showcasing a band’s inherent ability who continue to revolutionize the genre of metal – in this specific case, Our Raw Heart is an unyielding display of a band embracing the inevitable and never once succumbing to the possible ruination that was forced upon them. The album’s opener, “Ablaze” sets the tone – a crushing introduction to what we’ve missed about the band since 2014’s Clearing the Path to Ascend. “The Screen” chugs along like a Pelican track, but one of the more compelling takeaways is Scheidt’s ability to throw his voice. From his guttural, thundering roars to his '70s style rock howls, Scheidt is able to take on many different forms making Our Raw Heart such a wildly impressive listen.

“Lungs Reach” is terrifyingly quiet, at first – reminiscent of Inter Arma or even Swans, a centerpiece track that shows YOB at their most foreboding. Before it concludes, the track breaks – it’s an alarming transition that’s met with a horrific wail from Scheidt – it’s a gnarled, teeth clenching moment, one that rattles your core and you can’t help but feel a sense of unity with Scheidt. It’s not a summoning, hellish track; it’s rather transcendental and shows Scheidt at a point where he’s reigned victorious over what could have essentially ended him – here, he’s screaming back and showing that he refuses to go down without a fight.

“Beauty In Falling Leaves”, the stunning 16+ minute track sways magnificently and shows YOB harnessing a more beautiful side to their writing while “Original Face” gallops along with a ferocity as the album’s most energetic, fast-paced song. Aside from that, YOB structure their songs with time in mind. They don’t work too quickly to get where they want to go – they simply let it bloom and the process in which they let that occur is absolutely divine; they’re in no rush. The psychedelic closer, “Our Raw Heart” isn’t so much a metal song, but rather a true testament of experience and what we’re given and what we choose to do with that. It’s a bittersweet reminder to fall back on: the reality that it can all be taken away without notice