Lust for Domination

I have been following this band, Yass-Waddah, since their first EP release and always appreciated, other times less other times more, their releases. So, I felt really honored that their label chose me to send their new full length release in physical format. The new full length is called ‘Lust for Domination’ and it was released on the 10th of July of 2023 in digital format. During March of 2024, They Live We Sleep Recordings, the label which has released in physical format all of their previous albums, created a very limited version, only 30 copies, of the album in cd format, the version that I received. The first element that caught my attention was the beautiful cover, an epic, dark, full of symbolisms and open for interpretation. The painting was done by Gragoth and it is a great improvement, compared to the covers of the two previous albums. Generally, the carefully planned and designed cd release makes the listener have a favorable feeling towards the album even before the cd starts to spin.

Pietro Baltan, the artist behind Yass-Waddah, is more angry and violent than ever before. Here, the depressing, despair feelings which were presented in the previous one, are mixed with really furious anger, creating a very violent result. The songs on average last 3,5 minutes, but there are so many variations in riffing and the structure is so good that it makes the album flow, from start to finish, so smoothly, making you want to listen to it again and again. The riffs are warlike with an epic dimension, violent and very fast. As in the previous releases, the main influence of Pietro is the Scandinavian Black Metal scene and the whole picture is completed with some Thrash touches and with the new element presented in here, the ugly, chaotic, almost screaming riffs. It seems that all the above elements, along with the exceptional performance in the vocals, are planned very thoroughly and placed together after a lot of thinking and working, so the final result is really interesting and i can say, pleasing. The final touch is added by the lyrics which are written in English and they are contained in the booklet. Pietro has done a lot of work in this area too and managed to deliver in a sophisticated way some of his personal thoughts, concerns and of course his hatred towards society and humanity.

I didn’t expect any surprise regarding the instruments, as Pietro has proved to be a really skilled artist. The guitars are the instrument that is in the spotlight and that’s not something done by chance. Their sound is clear and raw, spitting the riffs to your face violently but with absolute accuracy. The next best thing, in my opinion, are the vocals which are so passionate, harsh, raw and violent that they express the feelings as accurately as the music demands. What I also like in Pietro’s releases is that he puts the bass out there and you can listen to its lines throughout the album. The drums are played by a drum machine but their programming is very good and the lines are interesting and not repetitive at all. Their sound in very few moments is quite flat but the whole result is very pleasing to notice and get bothered by something like that. The production is clean and the mixture is balanced, highlighting the guitars and the vocals but giving space to the rest of the instruments to show their parts.

In conclusion, after a slight disappointment with the previous release, Yass-Waddah have returned with, in my opinion, their best material so far, declaring that they are growing, working hard, evolving and they have a lot more to offer. If you have been following the band all these years, you will be very pleased by this release. The only thing I would like to add is that this release deserves to be released in various formats and make the band known to a wider audience.