Yakuza

In July 1999 the Chicago quartet Yakuza came together as a hardcore and metal outfit, its lineup featuring vocalist and saxophonist Bruce Lamont alongside guitarist Eric Plonka, bassist Eric Clark, and drummer James Staffel. Their debut full-length, Amount to Nothing, surfaced in 2000 through the independent imprint Product del Diablo and drew the notice of Century Media, prompting a deal for the follow-up. Issued in fall 2002, Way of the Dead again highlighted the group’s singular fusion of hardcore and metal with elements that ranged from Tuvan throat singing to free-jazz saxophone lines and expansive, instrumental post-rock passages. Samsara, the band’s third album, appeared in 2006 as their initial release on Prosthetic and included contributions from pianist Jim Baker, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Minsk’s Sanford Parker, and Mastodon’s Troy Sanders. The expansive, psych-tinged Transmutations followed in 2007, after which the Profound Lore label issued Of Seismic Consequence in 2011 and Beyul the next year.