''Our Raw Heart'' is the eighth studio album by American

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band YOB. It was released June 8, 2018, by

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The ...

Production

The album was produced by Billy Barnett. The album was inspired by a serious health issue suffered by singer and guitarist

Mike Scheidt Michael Scheidt (born September 1, 1970) is the guitarist and lead vocalist of doom metal band YOB. Biography Mike Scheidt helped create YOB in 2000, which disbanded in 2006 and then reformed in 2008. Before they disbanded, YOB released a demo ...

in early 2017, and most of the music was written while he was in a hospital bed. 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 ''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. ...

'' (2014).

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

classified it as a doom metal album "possessed of hope", with elements of

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

stoner metal Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Slee ...

and

post-metal Post-metal is a music genre rooted in heavy metal music, heavy metal but exploring approaches beyond metal conventions. It emerged in the 1990s with bands such as Neurosis (band), Neurosis and Godflesh, who transformed metal texture (music), te ...

psychedelia.

Critical reception

''Our Raw Heart'' was well received by critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, 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. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 83 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews. ''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," while ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' praised the band for "subvert ngdoom's bleak conventions, painting the genre's slowpoke churn with uplifting melodies, cosmic textures and Scheidt's existential howl like a dreampop Dio." ''NPR Music'' said about the album: "the lightness is devastating."

Accolades

Track list

Personnel

– vocal, guitars * Aaron Rieseberg – bass * Travis Foster – drums ;Additional musicians * Billy Barnett – piano

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Relapse Records albums Yob (band) albums