Release Date: March 07th 2025. Record Label: Hypaethral Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
YUN - Tracklisting
1.Mononeurvosa 06:04
2.Some, Not All, Came Back 05:27
3.A Depth Charge in a Dead Sea 12:59
4.Granular Flow 05:14
5.Nova Cruciatus 05:23
6.Lineage 04:01
7.Old Dogs 08:52
Members
Andrew Wilson - Vocals, Guitar
Marc Delparte - Guitar
Devin Lamere - Bass
Aleks Hara - Drums
Review
YUN is the first album from Doom/Sludge Metallers Pyres in twelve years as the band released their debut album Year Of Sleep way back in 2012. I thought the band had split up ages ago but here we are witnessing the rebirth of Pyres as a true force to be reckoned with. As their new album YUN is a darker and heavier beast compared to Pyres. The band have deconstructed their sound to include moments of Psych, Grunge. Post-Rock and a touch of ATMOSPHERIC blast beats to match their highly determined and destructive creative focus.
Pyres walk the same Sludge Metal path as bands such as Mastodon, High On Fire and early-era Baroness which they showed on their highly promising signs on their excellent debut album. The vocals are harsh, aggressive and clean based for the most part with the punishing grooves having a fast paced edge to them. There's a sense of epic melodies being played throughout the album which comes on superbly well from the onset especially within the opening batch of tracks Mononeurvosa and Some, Not All Come Back.
If you miss the good old days of Mastodon then Pyres are the closest we’ll ever get to that fast and furious style of Progressive Sludge Metal with the band overlapping technical grooves with a classic Twin Guitar sound which has a sublime Thin Lizzy influence appearing from time to time. The record sees Pyres changing to a grungier style of music with nods to Alice In Chains and Soundgarden appearing whilst staying true to their Sludge Metal roots.
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The Ambient beats offer a haunting and reflecting score for Pyres to add a Post-Rock movement which does allow the record to slow down a little and grow naturally. Though, these moments soon disappear and ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE once more.
The two standout tracks for me are the longest tracks of A Depth Charge In A Dead Sea and Old Dogs which sees Pyres once again embrace a Post-Rock mentality with moments of Post-Doom, Psych Rock and Post-Metal combining for a sound that’s quite bleak at the same time. There’s a sense of remorse coming from the lyrics and how the vocals are delivered. This shows a different side to Pyres which we didn’t witness much on their debut album but it’s fleshed out more on YUN with a storytelling technique compared to the mighty YOB and PALLBEARER in places.
Old Dogs is the final track on the album but Pyres once again flexes their musical and creative superiority on the other superb tracks of Granular Flow, Nova Cruciatus and Lineage. This part of the album has a classic style of Sludge Metal with the Progressive sounds being dialled back at times with a focus more riff-centric delivery which has some of the best instrumental sounds on the whole record.
YUN is a powerful record with Pyres on truly magnetic form which leaves no stone unturned by delivering an emotionally charged experience like no other. With intense production values allowing the band to create a highly original and dynamically powerful sound of their own making. This is a masterclass of Progressive Sludge Metal and can easily be considered one of the best records of the year so far.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Earsplit PR for the promo.
YUN is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Hypaethral Records.
Links
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