Yatsu – It Can’t Happen Here

For all intents and purposes, there are few styles out there in the vast spectrum as metal that’s as hostile and outwardly aggressive than grind. Oftentimes coming in a form that is truly difficult to ascertain for one reason or another as scattershot violence tends to be the name of the game for many, the density and abrasiveness of the grind scene is practically designed to make those without thick enough spines or enough overflowing rage to turn away almost immediately. Every so often, though, the scene provides on fantastic and magnificent sight that we can’t rip ourselves away from even if it means our very flesh flies off our bones. For their debut album, Yatsu defies any and all expectations to bring forth just such a performance.

It can be all too easy for any grind act, no matter how experienced it may be, to find itself lost in the throes of unrefined madness where there truly is no form and, thus, hardly any substance to the chaos of it all. There is a time and a place for such explosive creations, though, but it is rare to see a band walk that line and bring forth that insanity while simultaneously dishing out quality that puts many of its contemporaries to shame. For the entirety of the seventeen tracks that Yatsu throws down for “It Can’t Happen Here”, we’re given a display that more than lives up to that devastating bar. There isn’t a single one of these tracks that I would change for any given reason be it to change the intensity, add melody, remove whole parts, or anything! Everything about what’s been brought to the table for “It Can’t Happen Here” may not be carefully calculated as a work meant to tear down the very pillars of capitalism or fascism, but damn if Yatsu won’t put forth a monstrous effort to do so with no regard for collateral damage. Just as easily as Yatsu can thrash you about, it pulls you into a shockingly intoxicating whirlwind that is nothing to underestimate or defy as “It Can’t Happen here” shows you that their power is far more than a mere shotgun blast hoping to hit its mark. Rather, Yatsu proves time and again that it is most certainly happening here, it’s been here for some time, and it’s nothing that we can ever hope to escape in our current state.

There so much to explore in this record that barely stretches over 22 minutes, but it is in every single one of those minutes that Yatsu shows that already it’s deserving of being called one of the most bombastic and interesting acts in all of grind, punk, or whatever else it is you want to call this explosion of fury. The future of humanity is looking dark in more ways than one, but Yatsu’s future looks magnificently brilliant if “It Can’t Happen Here” is the starting point we’re working with.

LISTEN to “It Can’t Happen Here” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Yatsu on Facebook here.