Toronto’s Ayahuasca have described themselves as “violent circus grunge,” an apt label for their brand of sludgy grunge. That label remains on Ayahuasca’s new single, “Mountain of Snakes,” streaming below.
“Mountain of Snakes” is the second single off of Yin, the band’s second full-length album. On the song, Ayahuasca harnesses the energy of 90’s grunge bands like Soundgarden, Voivod and The Melvins that guitarist/vocalist Berserk Lout says he grew up listening to.
Lout’s commentary on “Mountain of Snakes” and Yin in general adds a darker, additional layer to the release.
“There’s a lot of static noise and flashing lights everywhere all the time,” Lout says. “And inescapable currents of sick and destructive thoughts. It’s so normal you wouldn’t question it. Most of the time it’s easy to tell that it’s not real. Headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression and a wide variety of other symptoms arise. The easiest way to quiet it is with sedative drugs, an electronic device or perhaps an infatuation with another person or anything that enlarges one’s sense of self for a little while. But that usually wears off pretty fast. And then the noise, lights and thoughts get even worse. But in this world, distractions are abundant and interchangeable. And some distractions can last for years. So what happens when they all don’t work for you anymore? Can you sink into the empty space behind all the noise and find peace? Or perhaps you’ll go mad and kill yourself. Either way that empty space wants to be born back into this world. It wants to erase all the noise. And we will either choose it, or it will take us by force.”
Yin will be self-released on September 9 and can be purchased then on Ayahuasca’s Bandcamp, where you can also stream the first single from Yin, “Dinosaurs.”
