Customer Reviews

The Unreal Never Lived

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
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"The Unreal Never Lived" is Yob's fourth and, lamentably, final album. All of their albums are distinctive while still carrying their trademark sound. If there is a heavier, trippier, better Stoner/Doom Metal act around then I have yet to hear it.

There's not one thing I would change about this album except maybe add more songs. The production is amazing: totally intense and psychedelic and absolutely worthy of comparisons to the greatness of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. Slow, thick, brilliantly understated riffs. Haunting, awe-inspiring vocals. The bass and percussion sound exactly as they should. This is the only band I've known that can make long intros enjoyable!

I cannot imagine how any fan of the genre could be disappointed by this album. It does what it's supposed to do: It leaves you hungry for more! YOB FOREVER!!

Wow, what an epic slab of doom here. This Portland, OR trio has actually added a unique testament to the doometal canon. Their last cd was awe inspiring and so is this. Four songs in 55 minutes with the longest being 20 minutes (a true journey into mindbending aural assaults). If you crave originality and music that may stomp you into a trancendental metal state, this is the one (and pick up the last one too!)

"The Unreal Never Lived" follows up the excellent "Illusion of Motion" in typical YOB style. Consisting of four juggernaut tracks (which combine to nearly an hours music), the band continue their delve into the deep and dark realms of doom/stoner metal.

While YOB's sound is overtly doom with its huge crushing tones and often slow pace, the band tend to venture into progressive tendencies, thus giving them a distinct writing style. This is evident with the album's opener "Quantum Mystic", a superb piece that twists in and out of mighty pummelling riffs, Mike Scheidt's distinctive wailing/death vocals and some ethereal and trippy guitars. The song builds momentum, and with each new movement comes a real surge of power. This style is applied to all four tracks, and especially on the epic 20 minute closer "The Mental Tyrant" which fashions a mighty tempo shift from snail-pace to a positively rip-roaring blast, and also in "Grasping Air" which swirls into some melancholy and eerie guitar motifs. These shifts and changes in momentum give the band a definite progressive element, and stop the songs from being monotonous - something that too many doom and stoner bands fall into.

"The Unreal Never Lived" is a very enjoyable and solid outing and will definitely please long time fans and attract new ones. If you like your Sabbath and other bands in the same ilk, then give it a try.

Yob is one of the finest doom/sludge bands out there, mixing Sabbath-esque riffs with ethereal psychedelic soundscapes and more modern metal grunt. The songs here aren't variations on a riff, but journeys through syrupy creativity. If you like your music heavy, this is a cd worth checking out!

This group is an incredible Doom Metal band for anyone who likes metal music this is a must!! Long epic songs that will blow you away, melt your speakers and all that good stuff so order this and all their others.

Alan