Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
What a whirlwind of activity underway for the Maryland-based doom trio YATRA in just the past year since sharing my excitement ahead of seeing them at the 2018 Descendants Of Crom event.
After that remarkable experience, YATRA released their full-length debut, ‘Death Ritual‘ [review], via Grimoire Records in January 2019. They welcomed new drummer Sean Lafferty into the fold, occupied by guitarist and vocalist Dana Helmuth and bassist Maria Geisbert, while touring across the U.S. Several of those live actions were upon stages at a variety of festivals and other gatherings including Grim Reefer Fest, SX Stoner Jam ’19, Ode To Doom, New England Stoner & Doom Fest II, and Monolith On The Mesa, among others.
In March, while in Asheville, North Carolina, they made time to sit down for some casual conversation in a Riff Relevant interview exchange with me. A never slowing whirl of YATRA actions and 2019 is not yet over, as the band has some things lined up and going on before the end of this calendar year arrives.
The first of them has YATRA announcing the completion of recording their as-yet-untitled sophomore album. Though it is a bit too early in the game for any specific information, we do have what Dana Helmuth has shared about this. He comments:
“We have just completed the recording of a new eight-song album at Developing Nations Recording Studio (of Skeletonwitch, Full of Hell, Pig Destroyer fame) to be released worldwide on STB Records on all formats this year.“
Well, right there is yet another YATRA planned event for 2019 it would seem. However, there is also a confirmed live trek looming in the very near future for them, as they will head to Europe for their first time next month. October sees the doomy three provide direct support to the atmospheric heavyweights SUNNATA from Warsaw, Poland.
SUNNATA shared the following:
“We are writing new material for an upcoming, 4th full length album. We hope to release this in 2020. We want to merge the primal vibe of our latest album ‘Outlands’ with heavier riffage, being an essential part of yet another tribute to the void. Feel invited for a journey with us.“
The fall pairing of these two apocalyptic powerhouses is set to get underway in Germany on October 2nd, performing together for a string of dates before wrapping things up on October 19th in The Netherlands. Several of the stops are festival appearances, these include Høstsabbat, South Doom I, Setalight, DesertFest Belgium, and Into The Void. Find the tour itinerary listed below.
Find ticket purchase information for ALL of the upcoming shows.
– SUNNATA & YATRA European Tour 2019 –
Oct. 02 – Dresden, DE @ HD
Oct. 03 – Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
Oct. 04 – Oslo, NO @ Høstsabbat Festival
Oct. 06 – Uppsala, SE @ Ungdomens Hus
Oct. 07 – Hamburg, DE @ South Doom I
Oct. 09 – Cologne, DE @ MTC
Oct. 10 – Colmar, FR @ Grillen
Oct. 11 – Ilmenau, DE @ Baracke 5
Oct. 12 – Berlin, DE @ Setalight Festival
Oct. 13 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs
Oct. 15 – Zero Branco, IT @ Altroquandro
Oct. 16 – Munich, DE @ Backstage
Oct. 17 – Paris, FR @ L’International
Oct. 18 – Antwerp, BE @ Desertfest Belgium
Oct. 19 – Leeuwarden, NL @ Into The Void
