"...these guys made me want to kill myself it was so boring." - Someone on Blabbermouth

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
Maelstrom


Some years ago, melodic drone/doom bands started to become known and respected in both the metal and hardcore scenes. We’re talking about stuff like early Boris, which has more in common with Earth than with the more modern Sunn O))), Hlidolf and such. We can attribute that to the rise of sludgecore, specifically Neurosis and Isis. While sometimes terribly overrated, like it or not, they both introduced a new aesthetic idea and an original way of riffing.

How do sludgecore and Hyatari connect? Hyatari is precisely sludgecore gone drone. If you've heard both Enemy of the Sun and A Sun that Never Sets by Neurosis, you'll somehow be able to recognize what's going on here. It's not a carbon-copy of it, not at all, but both The Light Carriers and Enemy of the Sun could have been made by the same band, except The Light Carriers is much, much more interesting.

The main difference between The Light Carriers and other drone is that Hyatari is less improvisational and more compositional, with structures you can follow in your head, and maybe even remember the riffs. Riffs? Yes, riffs, while that can be surprising, The Light Carriers is an album with actual guitarwork. Ok, not Dark Angel-riffage, but more like Earth-riffage. And not only that, there are even actual drums in some of the tracks. The mystery is how the guy could keep time without falling asleep. Another difference is the inclusion of leads over the heavily distorted, downtuned to hell and back rhythm guitars.

To finish the recipe, they added low dialogues and random noises over it all, just to make it even more twisted. What makes it awesome is that they don't seem like they’re present in the music, so you'll find yourself more than once trying to find out what the hell's making "that weird noise" near you, only to realize it's Hyatari playing tricks on you.

Atmospherically, the album features elements of "machine making loud noises" approach, like in Sunn O)))'s Flight of the Behemoth, or the dark, tortured atmosphere some Neurosis songs have. Even if the seven tracks displayed here are unique, all of them form an aural story.

Also, if you often complain about drone albums being horribly boring, trust me, The Light Carriers isn't. In fact, it's varied, much fun and really addictive. Hell, you'll love it even if you hate drone, because it's so good.

Easily one of the greatest drone albums ever made, certainly in my top three. (9.99/10)

Hyatari are Drone Doom(You probably could've figured that out. Seven tracks, fifty-three minutes...). Think Sunn O))), but with a dash of Progressive Metal thrown in there. When I say that, I mean absolutely miniscule; the tracks fade in and out of each other like the album is mostly one long song. Of course, that's how you keep the momentum going. I've heard so many Stoner bands, and I only end up liking the more liberal ones, and nothing has come as close to making me feel like I was hallucinating as much as Hyatari do. The entire CD paints a portrait that's very disturbing. Imagine being fixated in the earth, like your feet had sprouted roots and fused themselves into the ground. That's Hyatari. The droning ambience is the feeling of you, trapped and still breathing, watching your life go by. Slow, painful, helpless. That's Hyatari.

The music in the CD often shifts gears, and inserts moments of what can only be described as noise. That trademark Doom tempo is still there, as well as the tone. Down-tuned, creeping, almost like you're being lacerated by flairs from the sun. Vocals are given a water effect when they're being used for the most part, and it especially adds to the droning ambience given to the album. Drums remind me almost of Neurosis, as the rhythms sound almost tribal in structure. Just listen to the open rhythm in "Fourth Realm." Eventually, the guitar begins interworking with the keys and ambience to produce that almost epic feel Jesu had. Luckily, this bad acid trip has a moment of light.

Hyatari have come from nowhere, it's so odd to see a band from a genre I'm not even well-acquainted with making a CD I'm already sure will be in my top five come the year end. The mental images you get when listening to this album makes A Space Odyssey seem like a play with puppets. It's disturbing, but so entrancing at the same time. So booming, so ridiculously massive. It's an audible theater of civilization killing themselves off by letting entropy accelerate.

Originally, I was thinking about how I'd go about reviewing a Drone CD. What much can you really say? "Yeah, this is where it gets slow. And here, wow! I've never heard anything that slow!" Good albums write their own reviews, I guess. The fact of the matter is that I could go on and on about Hyatari and never convince someone how much they NEED to hear this CD. Forget everything so far that's painted some mental picture that made you feel scared, Hyatari are a must for any person who gets his thrills from soundscapes, it's simply amazing.

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
Cellarseer Media

Inititally a self-release, and now thankfully available through Earache, this album is a hidden gem
brought to the surface. The sound is comparable to a more tribal and less chaos infected version of
Halo, subtract most of the vocals. Another possible comparison would be bastard child elements of
Neurosis and Sunn o))). In my opinion, Hyatari are raising the bar on the drone genre. Taking what
Earth / Sunn have pioneered and mutating it into atmospheric metal / noisecore territory.
Ultimately, Hyatari will be known for paving the way for 'post-drone doom'. I predict this album is
the vanguard of the new breed of drone. The songs are monstrous and beastly, but refined enough to
give it a sense of purpose. They're less organic and random than most noisy bands but the layering
of sound effects / drones / and synths really puts flesh on the skeleton. 'Harvesting Sod' stands
out in this regard. They're also able to pull off a more straight forward and uptempo industrial doom
sound, specifically the amazing track 'Fourth Realm'. This song is much busier than the others, and
actually has vocals. If every song on the album was as strong as 'Fourth Realm' then Hyatari would
be one of my all-time favorite bands. But I hate to pigeon-hole in this way, as one of the most
appealing things about this album is its variety. Hyatari aren't a one-trick pony. They take all the
good elements of complimentary genres and blend them together into one gruesome gravitory strike.

On the technical side of things, the production is perfect. The bass is full but not muddy like
so many noisy bands. The highs are crispy and not annoying. The drums are spacious but still with
presence. Well done. At a few points I'd be interested in a slightly busier mix since things seem
a bit barren without vocals to carry the songs, but other instruments generally step to the lead.
But then again, this really provides a proper bleak soundtrack and if it was too busy, then it might
lose its appeal, especially to drone heads. Fans of Halo, Godflesh, Bunkur, and Neurosis might all
be interested in this freshly unearthed disc. Thanks for the excellent distro Earache!

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
ROADBURN

This IMMENSE album caught me entirely unawares as it immediately engulfed me with it’s colossal, merciless and downright stultifying heaviness. These US drone shamans concoct a truly bruising amalgamation of Boris-era Melvins and Neurosis coupled with the glacial brain melt of Justin Brodricks’, depressive mong riffs.

Hyatari’s "The Light Carriers" is an epic, druggy, doomy exodus through a disorientating mindscape of coruscating solar winds and bowdlerising earth tremors. The opening instrumental track plays out like a wailing, terrified, bovine Mogwai choking in a reeking vat of acid, as each gangrenous swathe of molasses bass and black hole dense, subterranean guitars immediately engender a glorious state of fearful disorientation. And the remainder of the album has the unstoppable momentum of a catastrophic avalanche, but instead of loose, powder snow you have the utter devastation of molten metal, engulfing everything in its oozing, impenetrable wake.

Hyatari have the dubious honour of making Yob sound like the Spin Doctors... So put down whatever doom / drone / dirge album you currently have a penchant for as I can guarantee that Hyatari’s incredible "The Light Carriers" transcends anything recently generated within the idiom of doom / drone / metal, as this is without doubt one of my favourite doom / drone albums in recent memory. And as long as I can physically take it I shall be blasting out these shamanistic crusts of devil drone for many years to come -for a largely instrumental album, it’s subtle and canny use of planetoid-heavy dynamics never outstays it’s welcome, on the contrary, I could happily have drowned in another 7 tracks with nary a complaint.

The album is worth the asking price alone for the seismic overload that is "Fourth Realm." Mac Walker’s bedevilled guitar churns out a sickeningly promethean drone that should have fans of Khanate / Boris in a state of near apoplexy [well, it did me!]. For fans of Neurosis, Boris, Sleep, Melvins."

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
DEADTIDE

I have no idea what to call Hyatari, but I know one thing, this isn't music. That doesn't mean I don't like it, but it isn't music. It's more like some bizarre offshoot of Tribes of Neurot or Bastard Noise combined with older Godflesh. Yes I am aware of how redundant the idea of a bizarre offshoot of Tribes of Neurot sounds, but trust me here. The first two songs have no drums whatsoever. Not even close to snare hit during these 12 minutes. They love to use lots of feedback and samples. The noise gets so hypnotic however that you have no idea when one song ends and the next begins. What vocals exist on this album sound like a higher pitched Justin Broadrick drone, but there aren't much of those. This is an album that is probably best enjoyed during the onset of schizophrenia as the non-psychotic mind is probably unable to register what is going on here. The samples are far enough in the background that you aren't even quite sure you hear them. They could be voices in the head for all you know. Like I said this is not music, it is madness captured on disc. Luckily I'm just fucked enough to truly enjoy this, but I hope I don't have this kind of mood too much or I'm going to end up in one of those lovely jackets with no holes at the end of the sleeves. This album lives in a place one should not visit too often otherwise you may not leave. It may be ultra slow and well produced so sound clarity and speed are not the reasons this cannot be comprehended. This is the sound of psychosis.

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
KERRANG!

A FEAST OF DRONING DOOM AND SUFFOCATING SLUDGE

With some doom and stoner rock bands it's all too easy to just light up a fat one and disengage the brain altogether. With Hyatari such detached revelry is virtually impossible.

'The Light Carriers' is a fascinating aural trip; demanding, challenging and never less than utterly consuming both in sonic and conceptual terms. Of course, the latter part of the band's oeuvre is shrouded in obscurity, but as lengthy passages of droning noise give way to some of the most slyly grim doom riffs this side of a Khanate album their intent becomes plain. They come to crush and confound, and they do both with staggering aptitude. - Dom Lawson

More quality produce from the Codebreaker stable

Take a pinch of unreconstructed jazz, add in some gloomy electronics and a doom crust, bake furiously at molten heat and...you'll get somewhere close to this blissfully insane bubble within which this West Virginia threesome make their home. Hyatari aren't exactly doom, but nor are they particularly stoner. However, fans of both genres will find a connection to a band who, like so many currently lighting up the underground scene, refuse to follow the usual patterns of staying firmly in a straight line, instead straying into any musical territory that takes their fancy. This is ambient doom, diabolical prog rock...however you wanna tag Hyatari, the great thing is that they bludgeon and caress with equal abandon. "Sheet of Flames" and "Fourth Realm" are typical of a band who twist off the head of doom music and piss on the torso. Frightening. - Malcom Dome

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
Rock Sound

HOT & HAPPENING
Rock Sound's Monthly Buzz Band - HYATARI

Need a new dose of drone and doom? Well Hyatari may well be the band that you have been missing! This power trio from Huntington, West Virgina have just released their debut full-length, "The Light Carriers", on Codebreaker Records. It's an album of one movement in seven parts that will satisfy fans of Sleep, Neurosis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sunn O))) and Khanate. You have been warned!

WHO? Intense slow-motion trio from West Virginia, where they breed 'em hard!

SOUNDS LIKE? Sunn O))) trapped in a hell-cave with Sleep.

STANDOUT TRACK? The Godflesh-esque "Fourth Realm".

VERDICT? They may call this "The Light Carriers", but these are some of the darkest, doom-laden riffs you'll ever hear. Menacing.

The album forms one gigantic musical piece in seven movements. At first I wasn’t convinced by this band. The conceptual idea of “The Light Carriers” didn’t catch my attention and being not much of a fan of the genre, I had a biased vision on it too fast. The rather mediocre layout of the sleeve didn’t help either. For reviewing purpose, I gave it another chance – with headphones this time - and now I’m blown away and feel an undeniable attraction towards this black celestial cd.

The seven tracks on here could be seen as one long song that’s built from the ground up. The first movement of seven is the foundation of all that comes: it features just one crushing riff that is as heavy and distorted as it is slow. The result is seven minutes of droning guitar / bass doom. This goes on in the second track, getting more varied in riffing and adding vocals and voice samples. As the end of “The Light Carriers” comes closer I’m blown away by atmospheric metal, heavy riffing, loud feedback, noise and passionate tension building. This is fucking intense. It’s only by the end of the album, when all tracks are finished, that I realize that even the silence takes part in this epic debut of Hyatari…

This vision on the album might lead you to the feeling that in order to hear Hyatari to its fullest, you’d just skip the first tracks and start somewhere in the middle of the cd. But that would only do injustice to the band. The last tracks probably depend on the first ones to fully bloom and display their wide musical spectrum. And the first minutes of droning and doom are too feral and mind crushing to skip anyway.

Because of the structure of this cd, Hyatari displays a wide range of musical talent and insight on this album that never bores. The result has an enormous effect on the mind. It will please fans of Khanate or Sunn O))) to Neurosis, Isis and Cult Of Luna. The truth is however, that “The Light Carriers” is undoubtedly highly recommended to ányone that’s into heavy music. [bytte]

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
review by Denny Edmonds
LIVE 4 METAL

This is more like it - there’s nothing I like more than some miserable and oppressive Doom to brighten up my day. Due to some fantastic promo blurb on the accompanying newsletter, I pretty much wanted to like the CD before I even listened to it. Sorry if this sounds rather biased but anything that has the description, ‘celestial crushing drone and earth shattering Doom’ will always grab my attention immediately. Thankfully Hyatari don’t disappoint sonically; As soon as the rumbling thunder of album opener ‘Sheet Of Flames’ begins, it’s pretty much certain that this is a Doom fan’s delight. Each track, although varied has a constant link to its predecessor, which gives the album a feel very akin to Sleep’s mammoth epic, ‘Dopesmoker’. Due to this, it seems rather futile to give a track by track commentary of the seven opuses. I’d personally find it impossible to just stick this on the CD player on a whim, as it demands your full attention from start to finish. Fortunately I’ve taken to walking to work recently so the 53 minutes required to listen to ‘The Light Carriers’ are conveniently available. The band actually sound tailor made for the record label, Southern Lord, bearing in mind there is a sizable nod towards the awesome Khanate and Sunn O))) in terms of sonic delivery. Firstly, throughout the album there are various discordant guitar tones, that Khanate utilise to maximum effect on their own records. This provides a truly menacing quality to Hyatari. Sunn O))) are also clear influences on the band, purely due to the overall sound of the recording. Anyone who has ever listened to Sunn O))) will agree that you really don’t realise just how damn loud it is until the music stops. When ‘The Light Carriers’ finally ceases, the silence is totally deafening! The trance-like state that encompasses the listener by the time the epic crescendo of drone reaches its climax is not only challenging but rewarding. Samples of various ambiguous spoken dialogue are softly placed beneath the layered drone to add a sinister aspect to the dynamics of the band, whilst bassist/vocalist Chris Tackett only occasionally rises clearly above the riffage of Mac Walker to showcase his vocal. The West Virginians have apparently become a fully fledged live act since last year, which I’d like to witness bearing in mind the sheer weight of their crushing low end sound. Fans of acts such as Sleep, High On Fire and the aforementioned Khanate and Sunn O))) would find this album a very useful asset to their collections.

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
LOLLIPOP MAGAZINE
by Craig Regala

Live: A throbbing monster. I was worried about the disc, though. But no worries. Volume/sustain/ambience is not the only thing of value about these guys. It's a droning techtonic soul heave like amplified blood: The rushing whooosh! backed by the steady "ka-thumpa" of your heart worked into distinct songs. The band is a three piece, with sampler/syth work handling rhythm as well as melodic swells as the feedback and distortion from bass and guitar envelope the structure and lift the music. At times quiet and unsettling, quiet and serene, loud and serene, loud and unsettling… minimalism a la Earth (the band), the La Brea tar pits (the place), and Lamont Young (the guy).

The folks I know who're deep into power electronics/avant-doom/etc. are throwing around names like Buried At Sea, Neurosis, Zeni Geva, Skullflower, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Even some of the symphonic/world/electronic fusion that the ECM label has released over the past couple decades would fit this discussion. Pelican and Minsk often tap into a more "rock" framework, but you'd have to be a real stupe to not wanna see'm all play with those name-checked two sentences back. You won't find track titles listed on the disc itself, but here they are: "Sheet of Flames," "Freeform for the Disenfranchised," the title track, "Fourth Realm," "14,000,000,000 Years Ago," "Harvesting Sod," and finally, "Collapse." I named them as they are indicative of the music. That last one's the soundtrack to when all matter makes that big plunge back to the center of the universe and history ends.

Listening to Hyatari is like paying rapt attention to your high school physics teacher. On the first day of my high school physics class, the teacher told us that if we can only remember one thing from this class, it should be the definition of parallax. Parallax, in astronomical terms, is the apparent angular displacement of an object (especially a star) due the motion of the Earth in its orbit. It is also the apparent difference in position of an object as seen separately by one eye, and then by the other, the head remaining unmoved. The point he was trying to make is that depending on certain conditions, what you are looking at might appear entirely different. If you can wrap you head around concepts like that, then Hyatari may be on your class list for this coming semester.

The first track, "Sheets Of Flame," comes on exactly as the title describes. Wave after wave of destructively powered guitar and bass distortion comes at you, droning and marching forth at a regular and steady pace. Minimalist percussion is introduced in the second track, then builds through the course of that track to the next where the drums become louder and more pronounced. Also introduced is a string-synth track that carries an unexpectedly large amount of anthem-like melodic quality. The music continues to grow considerably denser through out the course of the album with different production details like radio static and voices that fade in and out to provide interesting textural quality. All elements of production come together on the final track, "Collapse." This is where Hyatari go beyond much of what could be considered typical doom metal conventions and establish themselves as more of King Crimson-like technical entity, with amazing soundscapes of guitar/bass feedback and large orchestral string-synth movements.

Fans of the newer incarnation of King Crimson would do well to pick up this release, as well as fans of Sleep, Sunn)))0, and Buried At Sea. Make no mistake - this is challenging listening, but beholds many wonders for those thickheaded enough to wade through it. Put your glasses on and start studying because that first physics test is going bitch if Hyatari have anything to say about it.

The dance crap I was expecting was nowhere in evidence. Instead, there was a dark, hypnotic vibe spreading, a dirge washed in beautiful sheets of guitar feedback with radio samples in the background. The whole thing is designed to be heard as a one-track (continuous) recording, but its actually made up of several smaller pieces. A slow, swirling, heavy chaos of sound gradually coalesces into more structured arrangements, with the guitar often carrying the slow and majestic beat. Finally, a drum machine makes an appearance, and the songs get more structure still. The vocals are sparse indeed; evidently Hyatari likes to let the instruments do the talking. Well, this is bliss for those who like dark, doomy, experimental metal while they zone out. There are few enough musicians trying for this kind of effect, and a laundry list will let you know whether Hyatari is for you: Sleep ('Dopesmoker'), Swans, Neurosis, Sons of Otis, Zeni Geva, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, or the Southern Lord terror of Sun O))) or Khanate. Hyatari has something in common with all these folks, but they're a bit more melodic and less scary. Which is OK, because as much as I might like Khanate, its not everyday listening for me.

Most of Hyatari started their musical careers in the 90s with a group called Chum. Chums' drummer, Chuck Nicholas, went on to join Karma to Burn. I knew there was a connection in their somewhere! With the demise of KTB, Hyatari may just be West Virginia's most interesting group. And although you may be getting the feeling that these dudes are short on humor, one look at the album's packaging will give new meaning to Nigel Tufnel's classic phrase "there are none more black." Get it and feel the flow. - Kevin McHugh

Hyatari - "The Light Carriers"
TONE AND GROOVE

The cover is simple -- linen textured black paper with a silver, double-strand cross design on the front, black with only the copyright date and webpage addy in tiny letters on the back. Open it up and it's none more blacker. Black backside to the cover art, black tray, black disc (on both sides). No text. No track listing. No credits. Just black.

It's a challenge to pull off perpetual dirge pace without it sounding plodding, but Hyatari don't do a bad job of it. The guitar chord that carries the beat becomes like a deep, tolling bell. Noise, radio voices in the background, sparse percussion at the outset (no drum sounds appear until track 3, 6:18 into the album), and sustained, fuzzed guitars set the canvas over which experimental melodies emerge, arise, and mutate. And track 4 kicks things up a notch. While the disc is cut into 7 tracks, all flow together as a whole. Your ear alone will not always tell you where one track ends and the next begins.

If you're looking for something sprightly to put on while you're getting ready for work, this won't do the trick, but if you have time to contemplate things, or to zone out, this is a good choice. It's heavy, it's dark in tone, and it invites absorption. Visit their site for an MP3 of "Fourth Realm," and you can email them their for purchasing info. [http://www.freewebs.com/hyatari] - Jen Grover