YATSU - It Can't Happen Here
November 26, 2023, 6 months ago
(The Ghost Is Clear / Roman Numeral)
Dallas-based Yatsu get things right fast here, the first few seconds of rager opener “Scavenger Ethics” giving a bit of a wave to His Hero Is Gone before going fast, not grindcore fast and not d-beat fast, just kinda... fast, things moving along at a punk tempo but flirting with grindcore, tons of distortion, just everything in the red.
“The Whites Of Spring” grinds, however, and grinds with authority. There's a power-violence feel to songs like “Appomattox”, which I certainly appreciate, while “Open Enrollment” makes me think this band would have been signed to Relapse during that label's grinding peak. The title track is the best thing here, everything falling apart at the seams before it even gets going, an experiment in absurdity that is a success. As the record goes on, things get noisier and messier and uglier (“Matricide”, “Influencers & Straw Men”) and I'm here for it; I'm also very much here for “Afterbirth Of A Nation”'s all-out drum intro.
I love how short and fast everything is here, the overall sound ending up power-violence and punk but grindcore in spirit, a great combo. The vocals are a sort of monotonous distorted scream that I kept wishing would be slightly more guttural, but there's certainly a lot of passion in them; the cool production job brings everything out perfectly.
A great debut album for all those who like it extreme need to keep an eye on.
