Yayla - Nihaihayat

Written by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Cover art by Emir Toğrul

Yayla is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Emir Toğrul, and Nihaihayat is the latest exploration of the Turkish black metal necromancer's vision. At five tracks and 51 minutes, Nihaihayat is an expansive, windswept piece. The long instrumental passages create a deep sense of isolation and spatial emptiness — when Toğrul's vocals do come in, they are layered and distant, somehow at once breathy and searing as a blast furnace.

This isn't a record that focuses on preternatural speed, but rather atmosphere and environment. The crashing cymbals and icy riffs combine to create a sense of eerie loneliness, even when the sound swells and presses in closer. At once hot and haunted, Yayla capture that peculiar shiver that only comes when you find yourself standing in a lone cold spot in an otherwise warm room, as though you were sharing the space with a ghost.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Yayla - Sathimasal

Art by Emir Toğrul

Yayla is a one man band from Turkey and Sathimasal is their sophomore release. This is ambient black metal, hypnotic and sometimes even relentless. The first track, the instrumental Fordreame Wonderlore, consists of synthesizers playing off the repetitive tremolo riffing. The dark atmospherics continue on the rest of the album, but the songs now has vocals and more dynamic songwriting. The production is warmer than usual for this type of music. This accentuates the ambient atmosphere by making it sound a little less grim and frostbitten. Here's the From the Dusk Returned review, and below is your chance to check it out.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Yayla also have some great looking hand painted tshirts available.