Yob Our Raw Heart

Catharsis is often a companion to the creative process. In many cases it's emotional, societal, or historical upheaval that results in a heightened sense of awareness and even revelation. Occasionally, it's a brush with mortality that becomes the impetus to create in order to communicate the experience. Yob's monolithic eighth album is a case of the latter. The Oregon doom trio's guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Mike Scheidt suffered from intestinal issues for years before an extremely painful episode of acute diverticulitis caused him to collapse in a supermarket in early 2017, end up on an operating table for six hours, and narrowly escape death.Our Raw Heart was written while he was recuperating in hospital; he had no idea if he would survive and wanted to get down as much as possible. These seven songs -- totaling some 73 minutes -- are some of the most trying and beautiful material to emerge from extreme music in some time. This is doom metal possessed of hope, but it's still w