November 17th marks the unveiling of META, the surprising and refreshing new full-length from Australian post metal act YLVA, patient architects with a slight lean towards the darker, crawling side of sludge metal. Their newest track “Lapse” abstain from the expected template for more of an unearthly vibe laced with sludge, doom and faint traces of heavy ambient soundscapes. We’re truly pleased to present its first hearing below! If you’re a fan of NEUROSIS, or AMENRA, make sure you check out this dense, atmospheric and monumental premiere below.
The band commented:
A more erratic track from the record that musically surges and slumps in and out the eye of an imminent storm. Lapse is an internal measure of inevitable loss, the limbo whilst waiting for your world to be set alight all the while you know it’s coming.
The song came together in the first hour that day at practice room. We all felt it push and pull in the right directions very quickly, it was a certainty for the record.
META by YLVA comes out November 17th via Translation Loss Records and Pelagic Records. YLVA are: Mike Deslandes (guitars, vocals), Dav Byrne (guitar, vocals), Brett O’Riley (bass, vocals), Leigh Pengelly (drums). Album artwork by Michael Bennett.
Drawing influences from a deep well of experience in past outfits, YLVA, hailing from Melbourne, Australia’s capital of underground music, create patient, dark and mysterious pieces of heavy music.
While the first half of this stunning debut album feels very condensed, driven by painfully low riffs and painfully slow drums, YLVA are thinning out their compositions thorughout the 2nd half of the album… making way for the beauty of dark, empty space. Tracks like the 13-minutes opus “The Fall” take their time until they reach the breaking point, the moment of collapse of the previously constructed massive sonic building – a collapse that is imminent from the very beginning of the song, or the construction process, if you want.
Photo by Kane Hibberd.
There is an unmistakably physical quality to YLVA‘s craft. One needs to let the frequencies do their work in order to fully grasp and be shaken by the essence of this band. “There is not a wasted note, beat, tone, noise or vocal line, but there’s also a beautiful level of restraint, both regarding how they write in levels of light and shade, but also in how no one in the band ever seemed to overplay”, HEAVY MAG summed up the YLVA live experience. “All of this works to make those moments, the big fuck-off sledgehammer hits, feel all the more impactful”.
“We have the ability to document, measure and learn from our social failures. We can achieve positive community development and social justice if the data is one day allowed to breathe from beneath and within”, comments guitarist / vocalist Mike Deslandes on the recurring theme throughout “M E T A”. The album was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, mixed by Mike Deslandes and mastered by Dav Byrne at Iridium Audio.
