The idea of drone metal is something that even after I’ve drowned myself in hours upon hours of its content I still find it challenging to really understand all that the style encompasses. It’s always a real task to try and wrap my brain around what I’m hearing, and it’s oddly fun to do it! To try and understand something so foreign and alien fills me with a sense of curiosity that few styles do, and that’s what drew me to Yhdarl’s upcoming album that encapsulates everything great about drone.

Yhdarl is no stranger to doing what can be only defined as unorthodox and all but intimidating from a songwriting standpoint as this duo has released several ridiculous albums that stretch the lengthy song concept of drone to great extent. Three examples out of many include their 2009 effort of “Buried Burnt Earth” consisting of one 50-minute track, 2017’s “Flesh Ritual” made up of one 55-minute track, and then 2017’s “Antithesis” which is fucking madness at clocking in seconds less than 5 entire hours worth of material across nine tracks. It makes my brain want to take a nap just reading that! Extremely few bands dare to even do something as long as forty or fifty minute long tracks, but Yhdarl has done it several times over! So, going into “Loss” made my heart pulse like few other pieces as I simply didn’t know what to fucking expect! For better or for worse, I think I got off easy with “Loss”, but that’s not saying much considering the nearly 50-minute album is a true assault of the senses.

In order to become acclimated to shit like this, you truly do need to constantly immerse yourself in it often in order to make it an experience that you can get the most out of. Luckily, I’ve trained myself for this exact kind of stuff so when I tell you that Yhdarl has created something so concentrated in emotion and executed by laser precision-like accuracy instrumentally that “Loss” is the departure of hope and light that drone tends to embody. But Yhdarl takes it to the next fucking level with these three tracks. Everything about “Loss” from its impactful beginning to its dying breath oozes with a dark compassion that not only allows for a greater experience as a whole, but you can tell that Yhdarl put more emphasis into the execution and that made the roller coaster even more wild to ride. Should you want depressive black metal, “Loss” as it from its theme to its cover art. Should you want the existentialism that’s drowned in hopelessness and such, Yhdarl embodies it perfectly. Should you want an experience that’s always shifting and never stays in one play for too long that overall creates an incredibly cohesive, organic, and dark listen, then does this band have the piece for you!

While Yhdarl never sticks to one style the entire time, it’s how they’re able to constantly revolve around a core of drone while still making it all enjoyable and fresh that makes me want to experience “Loss” over and over again. Yhdarl is a band I’ve only just found out about, but “Loss” makes me want to dive into the hours worth of previous material to see what else this act is capable of! All the while, there’s no denying that “Loss” is a dark act of brilliance that’s as magnificent as it is immersive and hostile.

“Loss” releases on January 19th via I, Voidhanger Records!

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