Ya̧nomamö Offer ‘No Sympathy for a Rat’ in Blistering New EP
This may be my favorite effort from YANOMAMO to date. Despite the harsh veneer, their songs are doom to the core.
Yanomamö represents the collaborative efforts of Sydney-area musicians Scott Tabone (vox), Jason Higson (guitar), Clarence Wandren Albatross (bass), and Jack Thomas (drums). 'No Sympathy for a Rat' (2020) is their latest offering, the fourth EP since 2012, to join three splits and last year's full-length debut, 'Neither Man Nor Beast' (2017). Perhaps the band paint more comfortably on a smaller canvas, where there's plenty of legroom and individual tracks won't get lost in the grander project.
Like the Yanomami tribe from which the band takes its name (the meaning, simply: "human beings"), Yanomamö is bare of pretense and adverse to artifice. As they played, I imagined a group of friends banding together after another tough week of slogging, underappreciated work, just slugging down shots of Aussie whiskey at one of the local dives, then grabbing their instruments and jamming out all the stress with wall-shaking intensity.
No Sympathy For A Rat is ruthlessly transparent about its feelings, a brooding behive of inner turmoil that seems eager to swarm on the first mofo it bumps into. The title track sets the tone of the EP with a rockslide of tumbling beats, tangy southern riffs, and fuming vocals that make an entrance with brutal shrieks, before settling in for Hollow Leg-style crooning, later morphing into death-touched howls.
Following this massive stomper, we take part in "The Offering," a song that greets us with a confident splash through the sludgey swamp, only to slowly become embedded in the muck. Just when all hope is lost, the pace quickens. We're starting to get our footing again. But then unexpectedly, the song devolves into a grinding dirge, as we're caught in the undertow of a swirling vortex.
Lost deep in thought by this point in the record, "Miasma" gave me quite the jolt. It's agro, for sure. Rudely awakening everyone in the house, but not without righteous cause. Miasma is basically the ability to smell danger. Sampling the Evil Dead, Abomination reveals: "I can smell your filthy soul." For sure, the most rough and tumble number of the lot.
That's not to suggest that the rest of the record is anything other than badass. "Iron Crown" is the big closer and it sounds just as heavy as the song title implies. I assumed that iron would make for the heaviest crown, but was apparently wrong. It's supposed to be gold, at least that's what the keepers of the Crown of Tonga say. But I digress...
Hell, let's digress some more. The Iron Crown of Lombardy turns out to be one of the oldest of the Christian Age, fashioned in the Middle Ages from one of the sacred nails with which Jesus Christ was affixed to the cross. Whether or not you believe its legend, the iron crown is a great relic from the Kingdom of the Lombards in old Italy. Sure, the song may be touching on something else entirely in the lyrics. After all, the iron crown has many stories to tell.
Of course, we needn't worry about how a song is interpreted. It's a hot day and time to get a hold of some cold brews and get into some serious headbanging. No Sympathy For A Rat by Yanomamö releases this Friday, August 7th (pre-order here). A rugged ride for a hot August midnight. Come get your Yanomamö on, y'all.
No Sympathy for a Rat by Yanomamo
It’s well established that pretty much everything in Australia is trying to kill you. So too, apparently, are their heavy metal bands. This particular specimen, roaming the streets of Sydney, are dealers in pitch-black sludge metal. The name is Yanomamö, named after an indigenous Amazonian group known for ritual endocannibalism (which itself is metal enough), and after nine years of existence their sound has only expanded further into new territory, this is self-evident on their new release, No Sympathy for a Rat (proceeding one album, two singles, and three EPs).
A lot is packed in for a half-hour record. The four tracks drip with whiskey-soaked swagger and somehow blend the collective wisdom of Sabbath, Corrosion of Conformity, and Kylesa -- the latter especially in the title track, where crushing heaviness collides with psychedelic groove. The bass filters through like treacle, especially on the Evil Dead 3-inspired “Miasma” (“I can smell your filthy soul!” we are reminded), and gets a real workout as it thunders through the speakers. The riffs are similarly inspired, with an instant memorability that sets each song apart.
Jack Thomas makes his presence felt with every punch and kick in the crisp and organic drumming. As well as this, cymbal abuse riddles mid-paced thrasher “The Offering” - and the monstrous crashes that happen in the latter third of the song. Whatever is being offered as a sacrifice appears to satiate the recipient. Meanwhile, Scott Tabone roars and shrieks in layers, echoing strains of Neurosis’ rawness, highlighting the troubles of war on “Iron Crown” in one of the record’s most potent moments that - unfortunately -- brings the whole thing to a close.
Australia may not be first on people’s minds for ear-decimating metal, but based on the strength of this kind of release it should be. If you aren’t listening to No Sympathy for a Rat, then where the bloody hell are you?
