Yyrkoon – Occult Medicine
Osmose Productions – January 18th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Though I’d suggest
Yyrkoon relocate if/when World War III breaks out, the guys are fine to reside in France as long as their music continues to flourish as it does on
Occult Medicine. At times they’re technical, ultra-heavy, or a mixture of both. Don’t be flabbergasted when a riff demands your attention, and then rapid double-bass solidifies the former’s command; it will happen throughout the course of the audible meal.
“Intro,” as with other introductory pieces, serves as the springboard for
Yyrkoon’s latest output. “Doctor X” is unapologetic in the way it jumps into a thrashy death riff, and runs with it. I can picture bands such as
Behemoth and
Decapitated on the same bill as the Frenchmen, and being totally comfortable with it. Trying not to get sucked in by the band’s sheer use of drumming variations, attentive riffing, and solid beats is akin to quelling a fire by beating it with a stick: it’s just not gonna happen. Leads – contrived or not – continually enter the fray, and don’t strike me as particularly interesting. In other words,
Occult Medicine would’ve been just as well without them. “Occult Medicine,” the album’s title track, delves into a cornucopia of elements like including a preface/intro, using galloping bass drums for punctuation, and altering the song’s pace when advantageous. “Revenant Horde” plunges back into pure death metal, though, as Steph (guitar, vocals) growls over the instrumentation for seconds on end. It’s a cliché I know, but also I have to admit that the rawness captivates me every time. “Reversed World” and “Trapped Into Life” commence aggressively perhaps as expected, although “Surgical Distortion” utilizes a fade-in before unwittingly assaulting the listener. Mostly, the quartet is straightforward rather than forward thinking in its iteration of the metal of death. And, sometimes that’s not a bad thing.
This nuance of the metal style will probably not be driven into obsolescence anytime soon. Miraculously,
Yyrkoon have improbably mastered the art of gripping a listener insomuch that said individual will not be in awe of
Occult Medicine, but will turn an ear towards the band in definitive admiration.
8.5/10
Official Yyrkoon website
Official Osmose Productions website
