Style: Progressive Death Metal, Groove Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Gojira
Review by: Cooper
Country: Switzerland
Release date: 23 September, 2022
As a self professed Gojira superfan, I am in a constant search for new bands that sound like the band I love. As successors to the throne of pure rhythmic savagery first ruled by Pantera and most famously helmed by Meshuggah, Gojira combine massive, off-kilter riffs that pound forward like a stampeding elephant with moments of delicate, provocative atmosphere, forging one of the most distinct sounds of the modern metal landscape. To say this has made Gojira influential would be an understatement. Unfortunately, many of the bands and albums that attempt to pastiche Gojira’s style lose sight of what made that style so great in the first place, and YNK’s recent groove-laden self-titled debut is no exception.
YNK employ a style that falls squarely between Gojira’s two most prominent works: From Mars to Sirius and The Way of All Flesh. If you are anything like me, that will sound like a dream come true, but don’t get your hopes up too quick! Where Gojira’s riffs would shift in and upon themselves to create intense moments of rhythmic and tonal dissonance, YNK’s riffs are about as predictable as the user’s manual for a screwdriver. Where Gojira songs would seemingly turn on a dime to explore a new direction after exhausting one avenue, YNK songs just end. It may seem unfair to compare YNK to the stylistically-embedded powerhouse that is Gojira, but YNK opened themselves up to such criticism when they chose to release an album in such a clearly derivative style. Besides, being a rip-off is not the only mistake YNK made on this album.
Each song on this album seems to contain only two or three riffs – an amount entirely too small for this type of metal – leading to even the shortest songs feeling like a marathon as you hear the same exact riff for the fiftieth time. There may be the occasional catchy riff (usually the ones directly lifted from Gojira), but they hardly warrant this amount of repetition. It also doesn’t help that the guitar tone on this album has all the potency of an open can of soda left in the sun all day. That is to say, flat as hell! In fact, every performance on the album seems to be sonically lacking. The drums are devoid of any impact and are desperately quiet in the mix. Bass is practically non-existent. The vocals, thanks to subtle uses of double tracking and a solid growl range, are actually decent. Still, the album ends up sounding more like a demo than any sort of studio release.
It may sound as though I utterly despise this album, but that is not the case. I understand all bands must begin somewhere – Gojira themselves began as a Morbid Angel clone – but that doesn’t change the fact that what YNK delivered on their debut is not worth the time it takes to listen to it. If YNK truly follows in Gojira’s footsteps on their next releases, becoming more innovative and making more interesting music, then I will feast upon these words like a king.
Recommended tracks: Reach the Line
You may also like: Sanzu, Liverum, Dvota
Final verdict: 3/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
YNK is:
– Jefferson Genolet (vocals)
– Manu Iunker (lead guitars)
– David D’Agostini (bass, rhythm guitars)
– David Bérod (drums)
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