Genocide

When one thinks of Polish tech death, there's a good chance the names Lost Soul, Damnable or Yattering will come up. Yattering have solidified their identity and formed their own strain of death metal. With Genocide being the last metal-centric album they've released, they ended on a strong point (ignoring the weird release of III which people agree leans too far to the electronic side to be properly deemed "metal".)

Here the electronic elements are very minimal, there's still a hint of industrial to the whole package, yet it stands in the shadow of the weird, technical death metal which steals the stage. This album starts off, very weird, a short mostly instrumental opener clears the way for what's to come. Some indiscernible vocalizations (not printed in the booklet,) build very slowly in a schizophrenic fashion with some okay tortured screams.

The vocalists accent may not be apparent to you yet but within the first lines of Schism you're treated with Marcin Świerczyński's full blown Polish accent. This suits the music more than adamantly and adds quite a bit to the whole makeup of everything. Where the vocals shine, the lyrics are somewhat lost in translation, the English being a bit vague for my taste. Regardless, each song paints a picture albeit maybe a little abstract. Some gang chant vocals are used sparingly and appropriately and don't turn off the listener as a lot of other bands do. They also use some interesting effects on his voice but I feel like they're unnecessary and I prefer just his normal style. Maybe a bit overused in retrospect. Kudos for trying something different.

It took me a couple playthroughs to really latch on to this album as it is odd, yet in a good way. It's intriguing mostly for the sporadic yet still masterful drums. Some songs come off kind of as just an assault on the senses, but still have some groove underneath the thick layer of high tempo blasting.

Guitar solos are almost transcendental and whenever they break out I almost get lost and forget which song I'm listening to. Riff on top of riff on top of riff, not much repetition to really drag down this robotic experience. Ideas morph out of ideas at a furious pace and in an unpredictable nature. Sections build on themselves and orchestrate the tension building, climax, and wind down perfectly. Some really intense instrumental sections spread throughout the whole album and each song has something interesting happening in it even if not for the whole duration.

Genocide is viewed better when looking at the album as a whole, it's individual parts are shiny but when all the gears are in place it's a more impressive piece of art. A weird opener and a strong finisher tuck in a kind of forgettable middle unfortunately. With the first 3 songs flying by in just over 5 and a half minutes, the middle songs kind of just are there. The final track Living Bomb is my favorite, with a long instrumental section where the drums just let loose going ape-shit. Menacing solos thrown within while the drums just violate your eardrums make this a very imposing closer track. Then there's a long section of silence followed by another couple of minutes of instrumental metal that sounds similar to the intro track.

It's kind of weird, and might take a few plays to get used to, but once you find your stride with it, its one of a kind.
Living Bomb is the highlight.

This album is, in my opinion, one of the top ten death metal albums ever recorded. Yattering was a band that simply never got the recognition they deserved, despite being one hell of an outfit. Their debut, Human's Pain, was as fast and noisy as albums come and their second album, Murder's Concept, is yet another underrated metal classic.

Their third album, Genocide, is a step up from everything they had ever done in terms of songwriting, musicianship, and to a lesser extent, restraint. The music is heavier than all hell, but this time around it is not as frantic and head spinning (if you have heard old Yattering material, you know what I mean) and that is a good thing. The production is also much clearer.

The guitar tone is thick and chunky as it should be, but is often played so fast it sounds like a chainsaw! The riffery is nothing unbelievable, but it is technical and brutal in its delivery. Yattering can definitely write some awesome guitar parts.

The bass player (also the singer) has some interesting accents, though outside of them he is hard to hear, but not inaudible. He has a sinister growl that's one of the lowest I have heard!

And the drumming...my god, the drumming. The name of the drummer is Zabek, and he is the number one most underrated drummer. No, he's the most underrated musician to ever perform on a metal record. How he plays the way he does is beyond any comprehension. He has to have been a jazz drummer because he plays with such a loose feel, it's almost swingy. He uses his cymbals and bells as accents more so than tom rolls, and his drum set sounds absolutely beautiful. And, of course, he plays it all so fast it boggles the mind and makes you ask what the hell it is you are hearing. His playing literally sounds like hooking up drum triggers and putting them in a blender to trigger the samples randomly and at the fastest rate imaginable. You just have to hear it to believe it. One of my favorite drummers by far.

What we have here is a wonderful and unknown metal record everyone should own. It is chock full of memorable riffs and monolithic passages and is one death metal release that I can easily listen to front to back.