YASHIRA is a Death/Sludge/Post-Metal band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, USA in 2015. Their debut release was titled "Shrine" in 2015. Now, they are back with their sophomore effort, titled "Fail to be," which contains nine tracks. "The Constant" leads off the album. It's a short, three-minutes of rage. The guitars are super-heavy, and build this dissonant melody, while the vocals are intense outbursts of pain.

"Shards of Heaven" is similar in sound and length. The guitars feature this eerie, dejected feeling while shifting the meter constantly, and the vocals are just over the top, raging screams. "The Weight" is a little bit longer and begins with a slower pace and some audible bass notes. I really don't hear much in the way of Sludge elements, but that is neither here nor there, because the guitar work is fantastic. "Impasse" opens with some guitar dissonance. The guitar work is so striking and inventive here. It will hypnotize you, and it's nearly impossible to settle on one meter here.

"Shades Erased" is close to five-minutes in length and features a slower grind. The vocals thus far are uncompromising. They spread their misery to the four corners of the earth, leaving nothing uncovered. The sound turns harrowing after the half-way mark, almost like good Black Metal. "Amnesia" opens with some atmosphere. They are drawing you into their world quite well here. It's absolute hopelessness that begs you not to even bother trying, for all efforts for happiness are utterly wasted.

"Narrowed in Mirror Light" begins with some depressing clean guitars. The desperation in the vocals are dialed back just a bit at first. Dare I say there is a bit of melody here? This is where some of the Post elements come into play. "Inertia Mines" begins with a discordant set of guitar notes that are all over the map. Again, the guitars steal the show here with their chaotic, yet thoughtful structure. Lead notes come in, building to a crescendo. "Kudzu" closes the album, at over seven-minutes in length. Beginning with heavy and weighted guitar strikes, it settles into a clean guitar driven groove. It then toggles back and forth between the two competing elements of clean and distorted guitars, but always with that hopelessness at the forefront of their sound.

Overall, this was a very unique listening experience. It's quite hard to pigeon-hole the band into one style, because they blend a few different styles together, and are not afraid to journey a bit onto paths untraveled. The vocals remain a constant reminder that your life means nothing and there is nothing out there but black. The guitar work, as I mentioned, is very inventive. The songwriting takes some skills that not every band possesses, and it's rich and deep in echoing the sentiment of the vocals. I think any fan of dark, Extreme Metal will find this to their liking.