| Our Raw Heart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 8, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2017–2018 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 73:16 | |||
| Label | Relapse Records | |||
| YOB chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 [2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Exclaim! | (8/10) [3] |
| Metal Injection | (9/10) [4] |
| Metal Storm | (8.0/10) [5] |
| Pitchfork | (8/10) [6] |
| Rolling Stone | (3.5/5) [7] |
Our Raw Heart is the eighth studio album by American doom metal band YOB. It was released June 8, 2018, by Relapse Records. [8]
The album was produced by Billy Barnett. [9] The album was inspired by a serious health issue suffered by singer and guitarist Mike Scheidt in early 2017, [6] and most of the music was written while he was in a hospital bed. [7] The album has been described as a cross between the band's two previous studio albums, mixing the aggression of Atma (2011) with the psychedelic experimentation of Clearing the Path to Ascend (2014). [6] AllMusic classified it as a doom metal album "possessed of hope", with elements of sludge metal, stoner metal and post-metal psychedelia. [1]
Our Raw Heart was well received by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 82 based on 10 reviews. [2] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 83 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews. [10]
Metal Injection called the album "engaging and revealing, immediately appealing but with subtle nuances and layers that only become apparent after subsequent listens. It's a powerful and cathartic release," [4] while Rolling Stone praised the band for "subvert[ing] doom's bleak conventions, painting the genre's slowpoke churn with uplifting melodies, cosmic textures and Scheidt's existential howl like a dreampop Dio." [7] NPR Music said about the album: "the lightness is devastating." [11]
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decibel | Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2018 | 1 | |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 25 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2018 | 1 | |
| Metal Injection | Top 20 Albums of 2018 | 5 | |
| Vulture.com | 15 Best Albums of 2018 | 12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ablaze" | 10:13 |
| 2. | "The Screen" | 9:49 |
| 3. | "In Reverie" | 9:43 |
| 4. | "Lungs Reach" | 5:39 |
| 5. | "Beauty in Falling Leaves" | 16:27 |
| 6. | "Original Face" | 7:03 |
| 7. | "Our Raw Heart" | 14:22 |
| Total length: | 73:16 | |
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [16] | 20 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [17] | 37 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) [18] | 9 |
| US Vinyl Albums (Billboard) [19] | 3 |
Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York, currently consisting of lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, bassist Derek Boyer, rhythm guitarist Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti, and vocalist Ricky Myers. The band rose to prominence with the 1991 debut album Effigy of the Forgotten, which became a blueprint for death metal in the 1990s. Since then, Suffocation has recorded a further seven albums. These feature growled vocals with downtuned guitars, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes and occasional breakdowns.
Paradise Lost is an English gothic metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. Bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence, or have covered them, include My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Katatonia, Moonspell, Lacuna Coil, HIM, Nightwish and many others. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.
Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with metalcore/hardcore elements seen in the 1990s, deathcore itself emerged in the early 2000s and gained prominence beginning in the mid-2000s within the southwestern United States, especially Arizona and inland southern California, which are home to many notable bands and various festivals.
Yob is an American doom metal band from Eugene, Oregon, composed of singer/guitarist Michael Scheidt, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and drummer Dave French. Their most recent studio album Our Raw Heart was released in June 2018.
Middian was a doom metal band from Portland, Oregon, United States. The band comprised guitarist Mike Scheidt, bass guitarist/vocalist Will Lindsay, and drummer Scott Headrick. They released one album, titled Age Eternal.
Michael Scheidt is the guitarist and lead vocalist of doom metal band YOB.
Revocation is an American technical death metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Dave Davidson, bassist Brett Bamberger and drummer Ash Pearson. The band has released eight studio albums, two EPs, and ten music videos since their formation.
Sunbather is the second studio album by the American metal band Deafheaven. After the release of their debut record Roads to Judah, the then two piece group consisting of George Clarke and Kerry McCoy began work on Sunbather under the label Deathwish and recorded in several days in January 2013. The recording process brought a third member into the fold with drummer Dan Tracy who would go on to become a permanent fixture of the band. The album was recorded in The Atomic Garden Recording Studio, owned by Jack Shirley who had been a long time producer of the band.
Clearing the Path to Ascend is the seventh studio album by American doom metal band YOB. It was released in September 2014 under Neurot Recordings. Rolling Stone named it the best metal album and the 50th best album overall of the year.
Catharsis is the second studio album by the heavy metal band YOB. It was released in 2003 on Abstract Sounds, and was reissued in 2014 by Relapse Records via vinyl.
Soma is the second studio album by the American doom metal band Windhand, released on September 17, 2013 by Relapse Records. It peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, making it the band's first release to make a Billboard chart.
Profane Nexus is the tenth full-length studio album by the American death metal band Incantation. The album was released on August 11, 2017 through Relapse Records, and is their first release on the label since their 2000 album The Infernal Storm. The album was recorded in the band's own Incantation Studios in Johnstown, PA and was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and reached no. 18 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart and no. 32 on the Independent Chart.
Mareridt is the second studio album by Myrkur, the black metal project of Danish musician and singer-songwriter Amalie Bruun. The album was released on 15 September 2017 through Relapse Records. Mareridt was recorded between Seattle, United States and Copenhagen, Denmark, and was produced by Randall Dunn. The album's title is Danish for 'nightmare', in reference to the frequent occurrences of sleep paralysis and nightmares which provided the inspiration for much of the album. The album's release was promoted with the release of three singles: "Måneblôt", "Ulvinde", and "De tre piker". The album received widespread acclaim from music critics upon its release.
Czarface Meets Metal Face is the first collaborative album by American hip hop supergroup Czarface and British-American rapper MF DOOM. It was released on March 30, 2018 through Get On Down, a Boston-based record label. The album features guest appearances from Vinnie Paz, Open Mike Eagle, Blacastan and Kendra Morris. It was the last release by MF DOOM before his death on October 31, 2020.
Sonder is the fourth studio album by English progressive metal band Tesseract. It was released on 20 April 2018 through Kscope, following Polaris (2015).
To Drink from the Night Itself is the sixth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band At the Gates, released on 18 May 2018 via Century Media. The album is the first to feature guitarist Jonas Stålhammar and the first without co-founding guitarist Anders Björler, who had departed from the band in March 2017.
Prequelle is the fourth studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The second single, "Dance Macabre", later topped the same chart for two weeks as well. The album marked the band's strongest selling debut to date, landing at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 66,000 copies in its first week, with 61,000 of those being "traditional" album sales. The album's themes include medieval times and the Black Death, along with more contemporary subject matter.
The Sciences is the fourth studio album by American doom metal band Sleep. The album was released with little warning on April 20, 2018, through Third Man Records. It was the band's first full-length album since Dopesmoker (2003), on which the song "Sonic Titan" appeared as a live bonus track.
Diluvium is the fifth studio album by German technical death metal band Obscura, released on 13 July 2018 via Relapse. Diluvium is also marked as the last album of the band's four-album concept series, along with Cosmogenesis (2009), Omnivium (2011) and Akróasis (2016).
Forgotten Days is the fourth studio album by American doom metal band Pallbearer. It was released on October 23, 2020 through Nuclear Blast, making it the band's first full-length for the label. Production was handled by Randall Dunn.
