Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - Dirt (2018)

Theres a whole world contained within Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Theyre a Noh-Wave prog collective, a black-and-white (and sometimes red) theatre company, an operatic psych cult, and the speculative prophets of humanitys impending doom. Above it all, though, theyre a thunderous rock band, and on their third album, DIRT, theyre the heaviest theyve ever been. DIRT is the bands first album since 2013s UZU, their second straight to be shortlisted for the Polaris Prize as one of the best Canadian albums of the year. But the gap between albums hasnt been a hiatus. Instead, the group hunkered down in the studio composing the mostly-instrumental score to the DrinkBox Studios video game Severed, along with members of the Canadian-Filipina gong group Pantayo. They emerged with new elements to heighten and distort into their already far-reaching sound, which combines and tornadoes Asian diasporic and Indigenous influences and perspectives.