Yamantaka // Sonic Titan: Uzu (Suicide Squeeze, 10/29/13)
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan’s latest full-length,Uzu, takes on the mystic qualities of both Eastern operatic and Western metallic styles, ranging between the arena-shattering treble of the former and the sludgy low end of the latter. Rife with reverb and delay, Ruby Kato Attwood belts out disaffected and saccharine arias that mingle with unending clanging of percussion to form a psyched-out whirlwind.
The result is a dynamic album that moves comfortably between foggy crawl and all-out assault. The tension mounts in growlers like “Lamia” and slow-burners like “Saturn’s Return,” and a particularly great example of the band’s thumping energy is lead single “One,” which sounds like a tribalistic, fireside cleansing punctuated by the panning clamor of gamelan and church bells run through a woodchipper.