YOB & Bell Witch have one foot in doom metal's lineage and another exploring | Aggressive Tendencies

YOB's Mike Scheidt and Bell Witch's Dylan Desmond discuss being pigeonholed as a doom band, despite always being the weird act on a doom festival. Mike explains his band's evolution from a band heavily indebted to Sleep, Electric Wizard and Cathedral on their first demo, while they started incorporating more punk, death metal and more influences as early as 'Elaborations of Carbon,' all the way up to most recent LP 'Our Raw Heart' and their last one, 'Clearing the Path to Ascend.' They dig into a key doom characteristic (one Bell Witch exemplify on 'Mirror Reaper') of space in music, evidenced in bands such as Warning, Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass and the works of Wino (The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, etc.) before discussing the genre's sonic landscapes that have been there since early influencers and tangential acts such as Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream and the Melvins, all the way through more modern acts like Corrupted or Whitehorse. Interview conducted July 4 outside of Toronto's Mod Club, while the bands were on tour together.
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[@biscuitstheanteater7306]

Mike looks like john lennon after he discovered sabbath

[@shillian4770]

bahaha

[@chrisbarnette7137]

Lmfao

[@hectoragredano3216]

Yob and Bell Witch should do a split LP and or collaborate on a Single or EP!!!!! That would be amazing!!!!

[@AggressiveTendencies]

That'd be wild!

[@botarc]

Hail Bell Witch! Mirror Reaper is one of my all-time favourite records..

[@prvzmalek]

botarc im a power thrash speed metal kinda guy but this album blew me away!!

[@Therealbackslabbath]

It’s a great song, for sure...long but awesome!

[@DeadAccount97]

A modern classic doom album for sure.

[@24hourknifefight]

I could listen to Mike talk shop about music all day. Dude's super chill and knowledgable.

[@mikeuvthecave]

never forgot you mike, remember playing with you at a few shows, loved it when we played the hand of doom fest with YOB, Floor, Sunn act act, and I broke my bass amp and smashed my head in with my bass guitar and you came up on stage with a new bass head and gave a hug while my head was bleeding,everywhere ,great times.

[@LunyMilky]

These dudes seem like very good guys! Cool to know :)

[@AggressiveTendencies]

They're super fun to chat with. We have a couple more videos with them dropping soon.

[@LeviJules]

I love that these two are some of the most bad ass dudes on the stage, but then they're just silly nerds away from the scene.

[@wulfshead]

Two of the most original and talented musicians out there. So good to hear what they have to say in the same interview.

[@shrimpe2876]

Mirror reaper is literally the only thing that helps me get to sleep, its gorgeous and dreary, absolutely love it. Also is Bradley the one always replying to comments because I know its him on the banger comments but it all has the same tone lol

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Haha hey, yeah this is Bradley! Mirror Reaper is wonderful.

[@robr2303]

Beneath the mask is great too..

[@alexandru20031]

Bell Witch is amazing, but YOB is just something else...

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Both such talented groups!

[@EliuCR1]

I love both bands, but YOB is in another league...

[@lorenzovalsesia3721]

It was almost touching seeing them together though :)

[@yesfan157]

This is one of the best interviews on the subject of doom and metal and music in general that I have ever heard. Invaluable information is here.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Thanks for watching!

[@UberKvlt]

Cool interview, nice Absu shirt also

[@montyblume]

What an awesome interview. Great to hear what these guys are looking for when they listen to something and what they think about the whole idea of a metal lineage. I caught Bell Witch last year and they were spectacular live.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Thanks so much, Christopher! We have another couple videos dropping from this interview shortly, so hopefully you enjoy those just as much!

[@durplehaze6484]

What if Steve Albini recorded the next YOB album...

[@midesti]

Hahhaha! Nice. I used to party with Dylan in college in Lawrence, KS.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Awesome! He's a really nice guy.

[@NexLevelQuest]

Love both bands. Saw YOB at Boston but unfortunately Bell witch had to cancel. Hope you guys doing OK Bell Witch

[@AggressiveTendencies]

DAMN! That's unfortunate Bell Witch had to cancel. Hopefully they are ok, as you said.

[@xWESTICLESx]

Two well spoken dudes. Love YOB…time to check out Bell Witch.

[@postrockforthemind128]

8:30 Colin, vocalist of Amenra, comes to my mind

[@Admiral_Bongo]

I like Mike's hair.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

It's nice, isn't it?!

[@Admiral_Bongo]

Hell yeah!

[@noisydope]

just now found this channel like 20 minutes ago, pretty surprised i havent found it earlier. getting an insight to some of my favorite bands, these two for sure. thank you for uploading these. this is what youtube was made for! lol

[@thehellion754]

"...Cathedral's Forest of Equilibrium, which still is one of my favourite records in heavy music...." WHY, OH WHY WAS I EXPWCTING IT?

[@moss.neobisid]

This is gold Brad nice one.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Thanks friend! We have another couple videos dropping with them shortly, just making a few updates then BOOM!

[@robr2303]

Two of my fave bands right now yob and bell witch

[@zubrhero5270]

Every band mentioned here are the perfect bands for getting into and loving, then coming back later on and revisiting and getting a completely different feeling. Melvins will always be a favourite of mine.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Hell yeah. Have you seen our interview with Melvins?

[@zubrhero5270]

@@AggressiveTendencies wuuuuut? No, I'd not seen that. Oh for sure I'm subbing.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

It's here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqeVf52QndmXr8U Thank you so much!

[@zubrhero5270]

Actual legend!!! Best interview I've ever seen with them. You guys are a must watch!!!

[@MorsIchimonji]

I loved the shout outs to Corrupted. One of my top bands.

[@alexjohnson9798]

Just discovered both of these bands (I know I'm new to doom) and then you guys drop this, sweet.

[@dudedude8931]

In my opinion I think YOB doing their own thing (or having one foot in, as he says) is better than almost all the bands doing the more traditional doom thing.

[@WangDoodleEnterprise]

Saw both of these bands play together in Memphis and god was it amazing.

[@baphomick]

best dudes

[@rama_parwata]

Nice Whitehorse mention

[@Serphwratt]

Fuck yeah Brad! Killer interviews! keep it up man.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Thank you so much Kaleb!

[@brians3948]

Mike speaks the shit I cant put into words. What a tour, anyway.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Right? Mike is so eloquent!

[@DamagedF0X]

Fucking love this band. Longing and Four Phantoms.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Hell yeah!

[@franlovelsimic8421]

Very, very cool. Love both bands and this made my morning that more pleasant. Fuck summer colds and fuck brutal coughs hahah

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Oh dude, getting sick in the summer is the WORST. Glad we could raise the spirits a bit. We have another couple videos with them dropping shortly, so that'll hopefully help again!

[@franlovelsimic8421]

Aggressive Tendencies my first summer cold in 22 years of my life. Cant work but I can read, listen or watch stuff home. Nice! Love your content Brad!

[@Thurston86]

🤘👤👺👤👤

[@vicaldama9314]

Prog doom!

[@AggressiveTendencies]

PROOM!

[@ansiaaa]

oh oh! warning? don't tell Pat you called his old band doom :D

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Are you WARNING him? ;)

[@bensilver4131]

Fuck I love YOB's latest album, but Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper is literally a classic.

[@kstanton9970]

Dude from Yob is like the Tarantino of Doom, and I mean that in a good way and a bad way. I loved what he was saying but I was mainly here to hear Desmond talk about Bell Witch.

[@matthewtopping2061]

He mentioned Corrupted! Fuck yes! \m/\m/

[@earthrot666]

Great interview!

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Thank you so much, Michael!

[@bubbazanetti1527]

Dylan kind of looks like Charls Carroll of MDE fame, imo.

[@FedEx867]

These were awesome videos. Thanks for sharing

[@gwenynceltaidd2161]

Yob is amazing so is bell witch both amazing

[@VitrificationOfBlood]

man i would cry if mike talked about my band like that

[@b.patrickbrowning2349]

Seeing these two bands perform on the same bill was an immense pleasure.

[@andrewkeith3912]

When sleeping pills dont work

[@jojolewis831]

Mike is in how many bands?

[@PandorasFolly]

Haven't heard these guys before. Knew all the bands they referenced. Going to listen to them after this interview

[@AggressiveTendencies]

What did you think when you listened?

[@PandorasFolly]

first i need to preface a musical taste i have. I am not a big fan of guttural metal screaming, i like to hear my lyrics. that's the prog rock from my uncles influencing me but it's something i can put aside for the most part. i listened to bell witch's mirror reaper, longing, and four phantoms. I rally enjoyed mirror reaper. It had an ambient almost choral quality that didn't fade from the foreground but kept my attention. i think the best explanation of the album is in a comment on album's youtube video from @Emir Irac Celebic "Track list: 00:00 Mirror Reaper" its a continuous aural landscape that has absolutely no intentions of being commercialized and is aimed squarely at the black metal hearts of fans. you can't break this thing up. and that's beautiful Now Yob, despite having more of the "death growl" was my favorite of the two. Probably because of the greater variance and dynamism in musical style throughout their albums. i listened to several albums and some portions of other albums, jeez that's a big discog. Elaborations of Carbon was quite good, but where i really settled in was on the album Atma. the counterpoint between Death Metal heavy lyrical musical stylings and a highly technical near acoustic softness even inside the same song blew me away. it was present, deep, emotional, connected, and furious. I'm actually considering to go see them live when this tour comes by me.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

Dude, that's awesome! One of the coolest things about being able to do this stuff is introducing people to bands they were otherwise unfamiliar with. I love that we were able to do that for you, even to the point you might go see them live. So rad!

[@PandorasFolly]

Hell yeah, You guys are doing God's Work here. this video actually got me to subscribe. i look forward to learning about a lot more bands!

[@AggressiveTendencies]

That means so much! Looking forward to introducing you to more!

[@PandorasFolly]

But.....is it Jazz.

[@peterross8610]

Yob is love!

[@natewalker7064]

The closest I come to technically understanding the nuances of metal sub genres is taking shits.

[@AggressiveTendencies]

HA! Thank you for watching anyway. Good luck with your bowel motions, friend!

[@MoxFulder92]

This wasn't even close to a funny joke.

[@bigtimfish01]

I wonder if they ever get sick of genres..... I do

[@bouncystudiosanimation]

The question is... how Baked is Scheidt??

[@concars1234]

he's baked on Art dude

[@XxLifeInFuneralXx]

Bell Witch; Good Yob; Not

[@gwenynceltaidd2161]

Ur on crack my guy