Album Review: Yosemite in Black – The Pursuit Of (Terminus Hate City)

Yosemite in Black, the hardcore wrecking crew hailing from Atlanta with roots in Douglasville, GA, is unleashing their new album, ‘The Pursuit Of’, on August 16th, 2024, under Terminus Hate City.

A crashing and smashing delight from beginning to end, Yosemite in Black bring the hardcore metal pain with a forceful slab of heavy. One that doesn’t stick around but delivers tons of memorability. Often through the medium of fast and punishing noise, which is how the album is introduced. The pairing of Cerberus and Warmer Weather hitting mightily hard, thanks to thick and garish instrumentation, and vocals that have a feral quality to them. Less sung or spoke, more barked, and spat.

It’s the Yosemite in Black way though, and few tracks on this album go long or lack intensity, regardless of pacing or style. Hell, of those two tracks, there’s a bit of filthy groove to the latter, which perfectly showcases their versatility.

Lovers of stompy hardcore noise though, fear not, it’s still what the album is based in, and vulgar numbers like Just This Once, Robber Baron, and the title track stack up nicely when placed against the finer parts of the scene. It just so happens that there’s some really aggressive metal infusions too and those just gives the album an even stronger bludgeoning vibe.

Speaking of aggression though, how about Cold Shoulder? Yosemite In Black delivering a convulsing set of riffs, brutish drumbeats, and scathing vocal lines. A manic two-stepping and circle-pitting number that knocks you down and stamps away, hard. Just as you try to get back up, along comes the ending section to ensure you’re spitting up blood, bile, and a tooth or two.

Shake it off though, there’s another diabolical pair to come, Kitsch and Fade Out are the final two tracks and Yosemite in Black make sure to end things in a systematically manic way. It would be easy to call these two tracks the most hostile of all, except the whole album has been this way and we all love it because of this hostility.

Yosemite in Black – The Pursuit of Track Listing:

1. Cerberus
2. Warmer Weather
3. Just This Once
4. Robber Baron
5. The Pursuit Of
6. Cold Shoulder
7. Kitsch
8. Fade Out

Links

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