Doom sludge bands Yashira, Autolith, and Drag Pattern dropped a surprise three-way digital split EP yesterday that was posted to Autolith’s Bandcamp page. The new release contains one song from each band, and Yashira’s contribution, “Blindfolded in Holly,” seems like it will mark the final song for the band as they announced an indefinite hiatus on social media. Here’s what the band had to say on Instagram:
“So happy to put out this collection of songs with our brother bands Autolith and Drag Pattern. Always a great pleasure to be with our friends, though this release is bittersweet for us. It forces us to acknowledge our hiatus.
“The fruits of our labor will forever be cherished but Yashira is no longer sustainable. We have not failed what we set out to do, but our needs have shifted. It is time to be with our families, and to focus on our other projects and careers. There are no future plans for us as a band.
“We are so grateful to all the people who have given us a shot over the years, and specifically to the people of Jacksonville who rode for us since we started in 2015. The community that we helped foster gave us the strength to move upward and outward.
“We hold our time with our best bud Seth Howard in a very special place in our memories. We miss him every day and it hurts to think what he would be up to nowadays. I always end up revisiting memories that feel like one hazy dream. Seth sitting outside on a humid day, smoking cigs, sweaty from drumming for hours and laughing and making plans with us. He would be so proud of who we have become.
“We are so grateful for our brother Ryan who stepped into our delicate situation with grace. He made it possible for us to cope in a truly cathartic way. He recorded the drums for the last songs we wrote with Seth. With him, we developed an essentially new band, forever documented on “Fail To Be”. He helped us pick up the pieces and carry on when we were hopeless.
“We are grateful for the labels who have shown us love and gotten every single release of ours (this split excluded) onto vinyl. Good Fight Records, Zegema Beach Records, Mind Over Matter Records, Southern Druid… thank you all.
“We gained so much in such a short time. There are so many other people & bands who are worthy of our gratitude but this already feels long-winded. You know who you are, and we thank you.
“Listen to all of our other bands:
AUTOLITH (new record out May 17) – @autolithtn
DRAG PATTERN – @dragpattern
CHAOS RELIC – @chaosrelic
TO FORGET – @toforgetband
ART STAR – @arrrrrtstarrrrr”
Echoing all of those sentiments, Yashira and Drag Pattern’s guitarist and vocalist Dylan Mikos said this on Facebook:
“Yashira/Autolith/Drag Pattern split out now wherever you get your music! Had a lot of fun putting together the Yashy/DP songs (both recorded by the great John Howard), releasing it with our Memphis brethren seemed ultra fitting. Now, I feel I must speak about the future into the world wide void:
“Yashira was a spiritual experience. There was a connection right from the beginning that could not be explained, just a feeling in the room. The early days of trying to navigate the ship were so exciting. Every part we’d write, we’d just look at each other all wide-eyed, almost in disbelief that we were conjuring this shit up. To us, we struck gold. I can’t thank you all enough for supporting us so strongly, especially at home. We owe so much to the community of Jacksonville for that. I hope you all feel that we represented the city well.
“Seth passed on his way home from practice. That night, we had really dialed in the plans for what we wanted the record to be, so we knew what had to be done after what happened, happened. Ryan saved it all. The vision was still achievable because of him. All we had to go off of were very loud, blown-out voice memo recordings of the songs, but that was enough for him. We wrote a few more from scratch with him to round out the record, and the rest is history. ‘Fail To Be’ was born and I’m so glad we saw it through. We needed it so bad. The bond with Ryan became lifelong through all of this. I am grateful for that.
“The band changed my life. I love it with every part of myself. Creating it will always be something I’m proud of and I know I lived in these moments because I remember them all so vividly. I will always be so grateful that it granted us the opportunities that it did, and for everyone who gave a fuck. I am grateful you all.
I don’t know if we’ll ever do it again. It doesn’t feel like it right now, but idk what the future looks like. Will things line up to make it make sense again? Who knows, but I refuse to lock the door, we’re just gonna shut it. In the end, if that’s what this is, we never compromised. We played loud as fuck at every venue, we wrote the music we wanted to hear, and we never lost sight of what it all meant. I’m just happy it happened at all.
“I AM GRATEFUL.
“This last track is a thank you to all who gave Yashira any of your time and to anyone that helped us along the way.
“You know who you are. We are grateful for you.
“I love you Seth! I miss you so fucking much!
“Because of this band, I know you knew how important you were to us and I’m thankful for every second spent. Even if it meant nothing to a single soul outside of ours, it will ALWAYS mean that to us.”
Considering how many other bands have members of Yashira in them, it’s less like a break up and more of a rearrangement of members. Think of it as musical chairs and, when the music stops, the members of the Florida doom scene find themselves in slightly different configurations. It’s kind of like the D.C. hardcore scene in the ‘80s, but with slower music and more alligators.