ALBUM REVIEW: All Is Lost – Yatra

Maryland is already synonymous with excellent extreme music; the legendary Maryland Deathfest has taken place there since 2003, attracting some of the best and brightest across extreme metal. It’s no surprise, then, that the genre-mashing doom metallers YATRA are borne from these waters. 

YATRA unleashed their debut LP Death Ritual onto an unsuspecting world in 2018 and swiftly claimed their place as ones to watch with their fusion of doom, psychedelia and sludgy elements. Their second album, Blood Of The Night was released to critical acclaim earlier this year and the band were poised once more to tour heavily in support of the album. For obvious reasons, this didn’t happen and instead of resting, the band threw themselves headlong once more into writing, directing all their energy into this, their third album and second in a year, All Is Lost. 

Picking up where its predecessor left off, All Is Lost is both their heaviest and most cohesive work to date. The title track opens the album with raspy screams and scattered fills. Initially picking a harder, faster pace; there’s more in common with hardcore at times bar the fuzzier guitar tone. Things slow down in parts to lock in a double-bass driven riff lending an altogether sludgier tone.

YATRA soon up the doom elements with Winter’s Dawning and Tyrant’s Throne, both of which sit in slower grooves, the latter of which features the first appearance of more melodic vocals and some truly glacial pacing to gradually crush eardrums. On the other hand, Eyes Of Light has an unexpected blastbeat and tremolo picking that recurs on occasion throughout, with only the moments between having any vocals, before building up to an epic close that brings it all together. 

These more melodic vocals along with the frequent bluesy solos dial up the stoner elements significantly. Similarly, One For The Mountain features a fuzzy bass lick reminiscent of ELECTRIC WIZARD and even HIGH ON FIRE. A highlight of the album, it showcases YATRA at their sludgy, fuzzy best with slow speeds, bluesy stoner riffs and vocals that switch between sung and rasped. It’s a melting pot of genres held together by excellent guitar work. 

The slower moments are where YATRA excel, delivering thunderous bass lines that wouldn’t be out of place in any stoner doom record, bluesy melodic breaks and cascading drum fills all topped by vocals that alternate between blackened screams and gruff singing. Despite being their second release just in 2020, All Is Lost doesn’t suffer for it and there isn’t a bad song to be found. The band clearly focused all their frustration and anger at being unable to tour, furthering their experimental blend of psychedelia, doom and sludge into a nine-song exercise in nihilism and catharsis. As capable of relaxing into its bluesy elements as it is punishing with blastbeats or slow, crushing moments, All Is Lost is yet more proof that YATRA are truly deserving of a spot in the metal’s upper echelons. 

Rating: 7/10

All Is Lost is out now via Grimoire Records.

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