Paralyze opens the album with a bizarrely futuristic and synthesised intro that immediately conjures up images of the album’s artwork. However, once that bass guitar hits, the groove and rhythmical flow of Yurt is unleashed, and a kaleidoscopic, multi coloured melange of beats and tempos descend like a cyclone, hurtling riffs and progressive passages at you with relentless precision
Prepare to be bemused, gobsmacked, and astounded by Yurts forthcoming release. V-Upgrade To Obsolete is almost upon us, and damn what a trip it is! If time travel existed, then I’m pretty certain the time machine would be piping this album through its speakers. Yurt have somehow taken this journey already and have returned to tell the tale. It comes in the guise of V-Upgrade To Obsolete, and here's a break down of what to expect!
Paralyze opens the album with a bizarrely futuristic and synthesised intro that immediately conjures up images of the album’s artwork. However, once that bass guitar hits, the groove and rhythmical flow of Yurt is unleashed, and a kaleidoscopic, multi coloured melange of beats and tempos descend like a cyclone, hurtling riffs and progressive passages at you with relentless precision. The groove is electric, and the vocal chants add another dimension to near-retro arrangements! Coming in at just over 12 minutes, Paralyze spirals through so many musical styles, ranging from addictive System Of A Down sequences right through to those cool psychedelic vibrations of the 60’s and 70’s.
All that funk and flashiness is carried straight into the next two tracks, Upgrade To Obsolete and The Book Of Esophagus with their space-age synths and free-swinging pageantry, all doused with more 70’s flourishes and free lovin’ piano and keyboard grinding. The melody is there throughout both tracks, with the bass guitar acting as the backbone, giving the music its distinctive and outlandish shape and structure! Jazz influences meander and wander through the music like a free-flowing jamming session, all improvised and shot from the hip. Yurt have most certainly torn up the rule books and have let the blood and the creativity flow, with no agenda and no border fences holding them back.
Tracks like Breakfast In Aksum have a more straight forward psychedelic rock blueprint to them but it doesn’t stop Yurt sprinkling some fevered ad-hoc flourishes to it all, giving it a unique identity. Breaking from shredded riffs to hallucinatory keys, it’s an oddball of a track, but there lies its beauty!
My two favourite tracks on this album happen to be the last two, especially The Brand Evangelist, with its slow paced doomy undercurrents and its hugely harmonic vocals that chant and herald a rallying cry over the deep licks and riffs. Simple in structure, it’s awash with feeling and emotion, making it a very memorable passage of music. Mukbang on the other hand opens like an Iron Maiden classic, with its galloping rhythm section and again, that sweet, sweet bass guitar, that Steve Harris himself would tip his cap to! When I listened to this track for the first time, I had the most eccentric and bizarre vision of Jim Morrison and Serj Tankian standing together on stage with their respective bands, jamming and freaking out to a wall of psychedelic keys and off-beat riffs! Maybe it’s just me, but I can see The Doors influence deep within these guys sound, with modern day metal acts like System Of A down or even Cynic seeping into their heavier moments.
Whatever way you look at V - Upgrade To Obsolete, is unique, it’s refreshing and it will catapult Yurt into the throes of prog rocks modern day luminaries. There’s something new around every corner on this album, the tracks ebb and flow through decades, and at times rocket through the earth’s atmosphere, exploding into an iridescent display of magic and mayhem. This comes highly recommended, don’t miss out!