Yayla - Sathimasal

Yayla’s Sathimasal is my introduction to the Turkish metal scene, and I’d have to say a pretty damn good one. Hypnotic is the word that’s being used about this band and it’s the right one. Being one man with a low budget, Yayla presents repetitive black metal in a structure similar to Abyssic Hate – long, simple, repetitive riffs that intend to draw you vortex-like into their sounds – but with the outer aesthetic of Paysage d’Hiver – lo-fi guitar tones sat with ghostly, ambient keyboards. Yayla, however, delves into much more indecipherable territory than both of these bands, at times being difficult to comprehend through the blare of static that shrouds the interwoven layers of the music. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The white noise serves somehow to fuse the very sounds of each instrument together. The production is actually very nice, raw yet filled with rich layers. Drums sit right back. In fact mostly all you can hear of them is a metallic, artificial pounding of a snare drum. This is a classic blacknoise beat that totally inverts the way drums are used to create rock (?) music, so I’m giving it the thumbs up. The incantatory vocals sit slightly away from the foreground, and they are pretty awesome. Dark whispers curdle forth from the yawning caverns opened by Yayla’s dense atmosphere. Vocal use is actually quite sparing, which puts emphasis on the repetitive riffing and ambient sections. Opening and closing tracks are completely instrumental.

“Fordreame Wonderlore” is a powerful opener, too - dark, insistent, and brimming with feeling. This is followed by the trio of songs which use Emir’s grim-ass vocals entitled “Emperor”, “Harvester” and “Conjurer”. “Emperor” is my least favorite track on this record, as some riffing I found to be not in keeping enough with the grim atmosphere, but it’s a long song and it still has moments of dark beauty. The other two tracks juggle entrancing black metal and dark ambient brilliantly. The final song, a thirteen-minute instrumental entitled “Will to Walk Paths to No Temple”, is an epic journey into dark emotions, like staring inwards to your soul and when you’re there and finally see it, only the bleak sadness of the world is there. Of course in that sadness is reflected the beauty of life.

Sathimasal is a work that’s being praised for its relentless dark nature, and I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, but I found it to be a heartfelt trance-like voyage into some very murky waters that are not always easy to appreciate. I recommend listening to this album several times if you want to properly appreciate it, as there is more depth to the music than initially meets the eye. It’s music that requires patience and I admire that in a band. Not everything should always be laid out accessibly for us the immediately indulge in.

Conclusion: Sathimasal is an excellent example of how bedroom black metal can be done with taste and substance, and proof that you don’t necessarily need loads of money to make excellent music. Highly recommended.

Standout tracks: “Foredreame Wonderlore”, “Conjurer, Prophetillars Will Follow”, “Will to Walk Paths to No Temple”

Score: 8.5