Band:	Yarrow
Album:	We Made What God Could Not
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	May 01, 2020
A review by:	RaduP

01. 活け造り
02. Old Shadows
03. In Shade, I Expire
04. Oceans Of Rot

I'm pretty sure God's omnipotence would imply he could do it too, but in Yarrow's defense, I've never seen God do such a punishing sludge/doom record.

The Bay area trio by the name of Yarrow play a very slow version of doom, that is as crushing as it is bleak. Some of it is quite sludgy, but it's not really a slugde record. It's not really a funeral doom nor a death doom record either, sitting quite comfortably between all of them. Getting to know them through their connection to Swamp Witch, a similarly downtrodden piece of filthy doom, though one that feels, as the title implies, swampy. Yarrow doesn't feel swampy. Yarrow feels like, as the title implies, something that even God is afraid of. That is really quite a name to give your own album, one that should be backed by extraordinary music within it. With this being their second album, We Made What God Could Not might not be there just yet, but most of the necessary building blocks are there.

This album would probably not be half the record that it is if the vocals didn't sound as punishing, whether in their earth-trembling gurgles or the blood chilling shrieks or what could be described as the sound of a deity suffocating. These vocals take what is already some crushing hellish music, and make it even more imposing. So from that department, while some growth is still possible, they've already hit quite the mark. I can't completely say the same about the instrumentation, which does leave a bit to be desired, either through some rather awkward moments, or some sections that don't really feel like they're going anywhere, even though they're really far from the worst offenders in this category. There's a reason why I even bothered to talk about this album. And it's not just the vocals.

There is some good songwriting here, and in the hands of a lot of other bands, songs this long with this little going on would sound way more under-cooked. Hearing the same guitar and drum pattern over and over, as much as repetition is a good tool, must be used wisely. Sparkling it with the vocals to create a sense of repetitive torture that seems deliberate rather than lazy, is what saves a lot of this album. So when it picks up pace or it changes tone, it feels like a being awakening from the depths. The album changes into a more death metal gear at a few points, which is definitely something I would like them to explore more in the future. And other than the main components of the sound, there are a few acoustic guitar sections that go over the doom instead of having their own section, as well as what I assume is some ambient synths/noise. And all of it sounds so great likely due to Greg Wilkinson's production.

Yarrow have created a gigantic sound with We Made What God Could Not, but it doesn't seem like they know what to do with it yet. It's like a tool far beyond any human's ability to wield. But I trust that they'll learn to wield it better with time.