Artist Yakuza

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Yakuza

Just when Chicago four-piece prog-metal band Yakuza seems predictable, it seasons its fleet drop-D riffing with a joyriding saxophone solo or clarinet stab. That unorthodox instrumentation has been part of the band’s arsenal since forming in 1999, but somehow it always seems totally unexpected on the four albums released over the past decade. That’s probably because Yakuza hasn’t leaned on that exclusively; 2007’s Transmutations saw the group getting a tad more psychedelic in its approach, something 2010’s Of Seismic Consequence continues proudly. Songs like “Stones And Bones” layer guitars, saxophone, and Bruce Lamont and Matt McClelland’s vocals so they float and drift around like puffs of smoke.

Updated 03/22/2011