With songs regularly averaging upward of ten minutes (and sometimes as much as 20 and beyond), Portland, OR's YOB are clearly not a commercial heavy metal band, but rather fuse elements of doom, sludge, space, and progressive rock into interesting combinations so as to belie their bloated girth. Founded in 2000 by vocalist/guitarist Mike Scheidt, with bassist Lowell Iles and drummer Gabe Morley, YOB issued 2002's Elaborations of Carbon before admitting a new rhythm section of Isamu Sato (bass) and Travis Foster (drums), and fast-delivering ensuing efforts Catharsis (2003), The Illusion of Motion (2004), and The Unreal Never Lived (2005). Each garnered more acclaim than the last, and the f... ... More