Track Premiere: Yatra – “Death Cantation”

Like pretty much every album issued in the last year or so, Maryland trio Yatra‘s latest release, its fourth full-length, was recorded during the pandemic. Nothing newsworthy there, obviously. What is unique, however, is that the band—Sean Lafferty (drums), Maria Geisbert (bass), Dana Helmuth (guitar/vocals)—significantly overhauled its sound on Born Into Chaos. While Metal Archives had them in the “Sludge/Stoner/Doom” category, according to Helmuth there are “no slow songs and no fuzz” to be found here, only “old school death metal and blackened sludge.”

“Death Cantation” is the lead track on the eight-song Born Into Chaos, and definitively confirms Yatra’s push toward a new sound. It’s a solid, rampaging thrasher—just under four minutes long—with raspy, death-inspired vocals. The album was engineered and mixed by Noel Mueller (Foehammer, Myopic) at Tiny Castle Recording in Towson, Maryland, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Monolord) at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon. It’s set for release via Prosthetic Records on June 10, and will be available on CD, two vinyl color variants and digitally. You can preorder it here.

Here’s what Dana Helmuth had to say about the lead-off track from Yatra’s new offering:

“‘Death Cantation’ is a battle-thrash, seek-and-destroy mission into a burning Gygaxian mindscape of blood and fire. This was the last song we wrote before we recorded Born into Chaos, and it’s become a favorite in our live set.”