Yakuza "Transmutations" (Prosthetic)
By Dim
Wednesday. Aug 15, 2:58 PM
Originality and subtlety burdened with growling.

I'm pretty easy to get along with when it comes to metal. I don't ask a lot. Just don't growl at me. I can even tolerate being rapped at (sometimes), operatically screamed to, and even yelled at with thick German accents (especially if you are Klaus Meine or the dude from old school Helloween). Just don't growl at me.

That's why I'm probably not the best guy around to review Transmutations, the Chicago-based Yakuza's fourth offering. But I'll give it a shot. And please note that I am addressing you, the reader, in a calm and easy to understand tone.

The disc starts off with the interestingly titled "Meat Curtains." The opening 39 seconds of this track are certainly fine. You get some nice feedback lead-in, some fuzzed out bass chiming in, an ominous tone being set... I can dig. And then, at the 40-second mark, it all goes to hell. "Why?" you might ask. Well, it's because I get growled at.

I will say this: the band certainly are heavy. John E. Bohmer's basslines plod along and create the epically dark mood and then instantly change to follow James Staffel's breakneck maelstrom of drums. Matt McClelland's guitars are equally sludgy and pummeling. And two lads are listed as providing vocals: the aforementioned McClelland and Bruce Lamont, who also adds some saxophones and bass clarinet, believe it or not. Out of these two, one sings and one growls. Since I don't know who does what, for simplicity's sake, I will refer to the singer as "the singer" and the growler as "the growler."

So, "Meat Curtains" take some interesting turns from a slower, grinding dirge to a speed metal feast, complete with Dimebag Darrell-esque harmonics from McClelland. But the mixture between the singing and growling does get distracting and causes me to wonder why there are even lyrics for the growling part, since no part of what is coming from the depths of the growler's spleen is even vaguely discernable. And then I realize I need a cup of tea with honey because my throat is feeling sore just from listening to this.

"Egocide" actually starts off quite promising. A very nice bassline from Bohmer sets the drearily dreamy mood while horns from Lamont lay a striking veil over everything. I can't quite decide if the presence of the horns (which show up at various points on the disc) are of The Mars Volta-ish "we're just so batshit crazy that we're putting fucking horns in this song just to mess you up" or of the INXS "Mediate" "everyone would probably think this is a pretty cool tune if we threw some horns here at the end and, besides, it gives the goofy looking guy with the glasses something to do" variety. Either way, the horns do sound cool and make "Egocide" one of the stronger points on the disc, both in composition and execution. The music here, and on Transmutations as a whole, is far from the problem. It's just that the singer isn't that great and the growler is, well, the growler.

The left-of-center groove and processed vocals lend itself very well to the beginning of "Congestive Art-Failure," with McClelland again playing an excellent, clean lead before the distortion kicks in. I find myself liking this and pleading silently to Yakuza, "Please don't growl at me, please don't growl at me, please don't growl at me..." But, of course, they wouldn't be playing pounding, unrelenting hardcore metal if they listened to the wishes of a non-violent reviewer, would they? Enter Zuul, the growler, yet again. And enter me, Rick Moranis, running away like a little girl.

One of the most melodic songs on the disc, other than some really nice parts on "Congestive," comes in the form of "Raus," which is a welcomed change of pace and really shows that a band can be heavy without ever kicking on the distortion pedal. I'd like to see Yakuza explore this side of their songwriting, as it lends itself well to the hornplay they like to employ yet, strangely, manages to stay metal without being metallic at all.

But no sooner does "Raus" fade out that you are again greeted with unyieldingly ferocious music, which is perfectly fine, but also vocals with all of the tenderness of one of Michael Vick's pit bulls with "Steal the Fire" and the guttural "The Blinding." "Existence into Oblivion" is another strong one, beginning with an almost stoner rock intro as the singer employs enough reverb to make both Jim James from My Morning Jacket and Ozzy blush uncontrollably.

One final burst of melody comes from "Perception Management," during which the growler only makes an occasional appearance. Again, excellent guitar work from McClelland is augmented nicely from Lamont's horns, especially mid-track, when the acoustic guitar and saxes conduct a beautiful and tasteful musical duel. Songs like this give you a peek into Yakuza's originality and subtlety just before they pound the ever-loving shit out of it.

It's hard to determine the kind of band Yakuza want to be. They certainly have the musical chops to be a cerebral metal band (I'd personally love to see them write an instrumental or two), but seem preoccupied with sounding vocally like just about every other hardcore band around. If that's your bag, baby, give Yakuza a try. But it wasn't quite my cup of tea with honey.
www.yakuzadojo.com
www.prostheticrecords.com

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Dim

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