In a city shrouded by indie rock cred, having been home to artists such as the late Elliott Smith, Decemberists, The Shins, Modest Mouse, and Portugal. The Man to name a few in just the last couple decades, musical genres that fall outside of that category can easily go un-noticed. Not to say that hip hop, funk/soul, country, hardcore, or various other genres don’t exist in Portland. They most definitely do, and in fact they’re thriving, but only in their own niche underground scenes and rarely catching the ear of press. To help fight that trend, today we celebrate Portland hardcore. In particular, Year of the Coyote.
Representing the local hardcore music scene with a vengeance, YOTC boasts a stacked lineup of well-seasoned musicians that have been active in the scene for well over a decade. Featuring Matt Hagen (previously of Brutal Fight, Rapid Fire Process, Two Hands) on guitar/vocals, Travis Wisner (Born Losers, Burning Room, Two Hands) on drums, and Matt Thornton on bass/vocals (Inked in Blood, Rapid Fire Process, Burning Room, TADA, Two Hands), these guys play a brutally sludgy blend of death and doom metal.
Back in December, YOTC released their first demo recordings, and it’s the perfect soundtrack to all my mass-apocalyptic-war dreams. From start to finish the demo showcases impeccable instrumentation. Explosive percussion, heavily fuzzed-out low-register and dissonant chord progressions juxtaposed by frenetic high-register fretwork, all bear the weight of guttural and morbid vocal growls. Blast this in your headphones and the next thing you know you’ll be the only one left in the room standing. But at barely eleven minutes in length, the three tracks leave you needing more fuel for your fire of hatred.
Word on the street is that Year of the Coyote recently lost Matt Thornton who just moved up to Alaska, and while AK is perhaps the most metal place in all of the US of A, here’s to hoping that YOTC will be able to carry on and grace us with a longer follow-up recording before too long. Because Satan knows, Portland needs more bands like this one to help fight the overwhelming current of mainstream indie pop that is constantly being spoon fed to us.
– Travis Leipzig