Just as spooky season is picking up, it’s only fitting that we report on a cryptid sighting – this weekend, we spotted the real life Yowie, and not just that, we caught them fully intact and walked away with evidence.
But that’s far from all of today’s haul – not only do we have a massive three-piece interview with ringleader / drummer Defenstrator, bassist Daniel Kennedy, and guitarist Jack Tickner, we also have the insane honor of premiering their new album Taking Umbrage in full via SKiN Graft Records.
SKiN Graft Records has always been home to some of the freakiest known quantities imaginable, so it was only natural to bring Yowie on for their debut in 2001. Taking Umbrage is their fourth record together, and it takes listeners deeper than ever before with its mysterious musings. The singles “Grimgrubber” and “Skrimshander” were journeys through troll-ish, unforgiving territories teaming with unidentifiable life, but they were also just the beginning – experience the full phenomenon below:
Once you’re done, maybe go back for seconds, or even stream it while you check out the interviews below. Actually, whet your cryptid appetite with the press release from Bandamp first:
“Unmatched for their a singular, befuddling style of hyper-composed rock, YOWIE’s instantly recognizable approach baffles and excites listeners. Yet, despite being unabashedly unnatural and counter intuitive at every turn, YOWIE grooves.
For “Taking Umbrage”, the ambition of the material demanded YOWIE assemble an international lineup with impeccable credentials. The band now features Daniel Kennedy (also of the band Cleric, which has its own progressive metal oeuvre, and has worked with the likes of John Zorn and Trey Spruance), as well as Jack Tickner (Basil’s Kite, Wollongong, and solo microtonal work), in addition to founding member, Defenestrator (YOWIE, YOWIE and YOWIE).
“Taking Umbrage” is both the group’s longest album and the one that took the longest to create, and one listen will show listeners why. There is no fast-tracking YOWIE’s meticulous approach to composition. “Taking Umbrage” raises the bar even higher, defying the boundaries of rock to forge a new path full of twists and turns that will challenge and excite aficionados of math rock, prog rock, RIO, extreme metal… and the outer limits and extremities of genres yet to be identified.”
Yowie isn’t known for doing a ton of interviews, so we did our best to come up with questions people didn’t already know the answers to: part one touches on things like the lineup, how the band communicates different parts to each other, and whether or not Taking Umbrage is the perfect hybrid of jazz appreciation and Slayer.
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The second one is a little more abstract, going into the difficulties of long-distance communication, whether or not Yowie or the new album in general can be described as ‘heavy’ with so many strange sounds happening, what songs were the most challenging to record, and what kind of gear was necessary. It turns out, both the guitar and the bass player just use compressor pedals, which is crazy when you consider what’s coming out of their speakers. It seems the real weirdness is in the soul, and also the malleability of the Fender Mustang bridge.
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The last one, technically captured in the middle of our conversation, we circled back to the spooky nature of things: Billy Joel, cryptid sightings, ambient horror CD’s for Halloween, whether or not music can be scary, and what sorts of things one might see if they used Taking Umbrage as an audio ink-blot test. Personally, we think of raptors or some kind of massive bird of prey that may not exist.
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After all that, we’re still buzzing, but it could also be dangerous levels of cold brew. We had a really great time, and also if you’re still reading this we recommend using the captions provided by YouTube for the interviews – the connection was generally decent, the volume wasn’t always consistent. Still, it came out pretty great if we do say so ourselves. Don’t forget to pre-order Taking Umbrage here.
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