Yayla

Yayla is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Emir Torgrul, and Nihaihayat is the latest exploration of the Turkish black metal necromancer's vision. At five tracks and 51 minutes, Nihaihayat is an expansive, windswept piece. The long instrumental passages create a deep sense of isolation and spatial emptiness — when Torgrul's vocals do come in, they are layered and distant, somehow at once breathy and searing as a blast furnace. This isn't a record that focuses on preternatural speed, but rather atmosphere and environment. The crashing cymbals and icy riffs combine to create a sense of eerie loneliness, even when the sound swells and presses in closer. At once hot and haunted, Yayla capture that peculiar shiver that only comes when you find yourself standing in a lone cold spot in an otherwise warm room, as though you were sharing the space with a ghost.