Two years after leveling the expectations of critics and listeners alike with Atma, Portland doom bringers, YOB, prepare to unleash Clearing The Path To Ascend, an aptly titled album for what will undoubtedly be the crowning achievement for a band whose journey now nears two decades of creating music as commanding as it is cathartic. As is the YOB way, the tracks here don’t simply offer a vacuous glimpse into the already riff-soaked doom genre. These songs demand the tandem attention of mind, body, and soul – etching a mark across a sound that finds YOB as formidable and unequaled as they’ve ever been. True ascension requires a destruction of those barriers that prevent any movement forward. Unsurprisingly, YOB pummels any and all of these obstacles with absolute authority, clearing the way for a genuinely visceral listening experience and climbing upward into a realm that sets the band in a heavy metal place that has been and will always remain wholly their own.
Recorded at Gung Ho Studio in Eugene, notorious for its reserve of vintage equipment, alongside longtime collaborator/iconic sound-sage Billy Barnett, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Beastmilk, Nails) at Audiosiege Engineering, YOB will release Clearing The Path To Ascend on CD and digitally via Neurot Recordings and on vinyl via Relapse Records on September 2nd, 2014.
Clearing The Path To Ascend preorder bundles are currently available. For CD orders, point your browser HERE. For special T-shirt bundles, point your browser HERE.
YOB will bring their riff domination to the stage next month on two West Coast live incursions that will include a headlining performance at Portland’s Hoverfest alongside Witch Mountain, Eight Bells and more! The shows come in advance of the band’s previously announced overseas journey this Fall. Slated to commence on September 3rd, 2014 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the band will level twenty-eight cities, the tour coming to a close on October 11th, 2014 at Desertfest in Antwerp, Belgium. YOB will be joined by Little Rock’s Pallbearer.
YOB:
8/09/2014 El Corazon – Seattle, WA w/ Wounded Giant, Transient
8/23/2014 Hoverfest – Portland, OR [info]
w/ Pallbearer:
9/03/2014 Tivoli de helling – Utrecht, NL
9/04/2014 The Fleece – Bristol, UK
9/05/2014 Roadhouse – Manchester, UK
9/06/2014 Audio- Glasgow, UK
9/07/2014 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
9/08/2014 The Underworld – London, UK
9/10/2014 FZW – Dortmund, DE
9/11/2014 Vera – Groningen, NL
9/12/2014 Atlas – Aarhus, DK
9/13/2014 Truckstop Alaska – Gothenburg, SE
9/14/2014 Hostsabbat @ Betong – Oslo, NO
9/16/2014 Tavastia – Helsinki, FI
9/17/2014 Slakthuset – Stockholm, SE
9/18/2014 Loppen – Copenhagen, DK
9/19/2014 Connewitz – Leipzig, DE
9/20/2014 Firlej – Wroclaw, PL
9/21/2014 Bi Nuu – Berlin, DE
9/23/2014 Klub 007 – Prague, CZ
9/24/2014 Arena – Vienna, AT
9/25/2014 PMK – Innsbruck, AT
9/26/2014 Gaswerk – Winterthur, CH
9/27/2014 Lo-fi Club – Milan, IT
9/29/2014 Le Romandie – Lausanne, CH
9/30/214 Jubez – Karlsruhe, DE
10/01/2014 Blackship – Montpellier, FR
10/02/2014 Razzmatazz3 – Barcelona, ES
10/03/2014 Villamanuela – Madrid, ES
10/04/2014 Amplifest – Porto, PT
10/05/2014 ES ESonora – Erandio, ES
10/06/2014 Le Dynamo – Toulouse, FR
10/07/2014 Le Ferrailleur – Nantes, FR
10/08/2014 Glazart – Paris, FR
10/10/2014 Kyttaro Club – Athens, GR
10/11/2014 Desertfest – Antwerp, BE
As a precursor to the release, YOB is offering up two Clearing The Path To Ascend video teasers viewable below. Stay tuned for further YOB happenings to be announce in the weeks to come.
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