YOB

Eugene, Oregon is a fertile bed of college-fuelled creativity, and Yob are its latest — and maybe greatest — purveyors of Sleep-inspired stoner/doom. Totally eclipsing their 2002 debut Elaborations Of Carbon on 12th Records (High On Fire’s early home), the three epic slabs that comprise Catharsis are among the best doom tracks of the year. The 18-minute "Aeons” lopes along the slopes of Sleep’s Holy Mountain while guitarist Michael Scheidt growls his way to oblivion; when he’s not invoking demons, his vocal tone sounds falsetto-inspired and a bit girlish, like Acid King’s Lori Crover or Warhorse’s original singer aping Robert Plant or Rush’s Geddy Lee. The shortest cut, the seven-minute "Ether” charges in like Karma To Burn (pre-Almost Heathen), and Scheidt lays down incredibly wicked grooves while drummer Travis Foster deftly nails each into place. The title track pummels tastefully for a whopping 23 minutes in the chilly vein of old Electric Wizard, with Scheidt proffering an equal number of death-y growls and tonal consistency on par with Goatsnake’s Pete Stahl. Yob add a much needed variety to a tired genre, and Catharsis is hopefully just the beginning.