Customer Reviews

Samsara

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Good
"Cancer of the Industry" starts off with pounding drums and Eastern influenced wind instruments. It doesn't take long before the calm turns into a thunderstorm of driving riffs and furious vocals. "Monkey Tail" focuses more on mellow structures with woodwind instrumentation and subtle guitar. Yakuza may paint a peaceful scene at first, but in the fevering final minutes, they really drive it home. "Dishonor" comes at you with mighty riffs, blood-thirsty vocals, and devastating drum work from start to finish.

Thoughts of being lost in a dark, scary jungle is what will ring through you brain when you hear "20 Bucks." The vocals are haunting and echoed when they're not filled with rage and intensity. The nine minute epic "Back to the Mountain" is bay far the best track on the album. Not only is it true to the hardcore form, but the Eastern influence adds texture and grander appeal to the track.

The Bad
Nothing notable

The Verdict
Samsara is defined by its unique blend of progressive elements and kick ass metal. The group's unique approach of expected heaviness versus unexpected elements is quite refreshing.

Yakuza has, and most liklely will be stuck deep in the undergound. Which is fine by me, though these guys can make some phenomenal metallic music, and Samsara is their masterpiece. Samsara is a extreme/avant-garde/progressive/world metal album. By "world" they have asian style and even some middle eastern thrown in, the avant-garde style has a lot to do with it too. Not to mention a saxaphone is used in most of the album, I'm not really a sax fan, but it get's pulled off perfectly. The sax adds so much more atmosphere in the music, though the experimental and unique guitars and vocals make up pleanty of the atmosphere. There are actually a good amount of clean vocals and they totally fit, which is pretty rare for extreme metal. Not to mention this album is very loud and quite heavy, and even monolithic, especially with the nine minute closing track, Back to The Mountain. If your really into unique metal, you must check out Samsara, and Yakuza in general.