Yatra, the Maryland-based doom metal trio has shared a new song from their upcoming new album Death Ritual, ominously titled “Smoke Will Rise.” The album is out on January 4, 2019 on Grimoire Records. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Dana Helmuth along with rhythm section Maria Geisbert on bass, and Mike Tull on drums. Helmuth formed Yatra in 2017 after performing in like-minded Maryland band Blood Raven.

“‘Smoke Is Rising’… At the time I wrote this there were a lot of really dark and heavy things going on in my life,” said Helmuth. “I really felt like the lyrics I wrote ‘Marching dead under crimson skies, rivers they rise up and swallow me.’ So I began to realize that I needed to put everything I had left into this burning sacrifice of Yatra, and I believed smoke would rise from this, and that kingdoms would fall.”

Yatra means “journey or pilgrimage” in Nepali, which Helmuth learned as he rode his motorcycle across the mountainous Asian country in 2013. He wrote the songs that would become Death Ritual living out in the Maryland countryside, inspired by the solitude and darkness of the setting.

Death Ritual will be released on CD and digital download via Grimoire Records, and as a limited-edition vinyl release directly from the band, on January 4th, 2019. Find preorders where the prior single “Black Moon” is also streaming here.

Death Ritual track list

1. “Hour of the Dragon”
2. “Black Moon”
3. “Sacred Flower”
4. “Snakes in the Temple”
5. “Smoke is Rising”
6. “Four Directions”
7. “Mighty Arrows”
8. “Sailing On”

YATRA Tour Dates:

2018:

12/07 – Baltimore, MD – The Sidebar – w/ Witching
12/15 – Frederick, MD – Guido’s Speakeasy – w/ Backwoods Payback, Byrgan
12/21 – Brooklyn, NY – Lucky 13 Saloon – w/ Decap Attak, Sigils
12/28 – Baltimore, MD – The Depot – w/ Byrgan, The Osedax, Erlkonig

2019:

1/15 – Baltimore, MD – Sidebar – w/ Toke, Greenfiend, Tombtoker
1/16 – New York, NY @ Ode to Doom – Arlene’s Grocery – w/ Clouds Taste Satanic, Matte Black, Sleeping Village
1/24 – Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar
2/02 – Philadelphia, PA – Century Bar – w/ Backwoods Payback, Decap Attak
3/14 – Austin, TX @ SXSW – SpiderHouse
4/20 – Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar w/ Ruby The Hatchet, Book Of Wyrms