Seattle-based band, Yellfire have delivered one the year’s finest full-length debuts in the form of Dear Gods. It is a seamless melding of hardcore, grunge and noise rock. It’s heavy as all get out, nimble and dynamic. They are not messing around. This is some top-shelf stuff. It exceeds the expectations held forth by their 2019 debut EP, Lara Flynn Boyle.
Vocalist/guitarist Jerome Sauer has a mighty fine roar in him. It’s quite ferocious. His band-mates, guitarist Eric Christianson, bassist Casey Nolan, and drummer Trent McIntyre, bring the fire too. Together they churn out the vicious, metal-punk jams you’ve been craving.
In addition, they have enlisted the help of several guest vocalists, from their hometown, to enhance the listening experience. John Pettibone (Himsa, Heiress) lends his powerful pipes to opening track “Into Fire.” While, Demian Johnston (Great Falls) and Ben Verellen (Helms Alee) lend their vocal talents to “Escape” and “Red Sky,” respectively.
“Into Fire” opens the album with a furious blast of noisy hardcore, that manages to throw in some atmospheric parts, along with the sick riffage. “Anti Inverted” leans more toward heavy punk and features some clean chanted vocals, along with Sauer’s hellfire rasp. “Fuji” opens with a swath of feedback, menacing, lurching guitars, that go faster and more hectic, before ending on a heavy, mesmerizing riff.
“Unrelated Incident” and “Wabi Sabi” are two of the shorter, faster tracks on the album. The former goes fast and then slightly less fast, while the latter busts out some clean vocals to go with all the angular guitar damage. “Red Sky,” which is the longest track on the album, closes out the album with nearly six minutes of unrelenting heaviness, dynamic shifts in tempo, and a scorched-earth vocal attack.
Dear Gods is an auspicious debut. Yellfire have announced their arrival to the upper tier of heavy, noisy bands plying their trade today. It is easily one of the best albums to come out of the fertile, heavy music scene of Seattle in the past few years. But, it also a killer heavy music album, that people from all over should get into.
Truth be told. It’s a straight-up ripper.
