Label: Skin Graft

Released 10/10/2025

The fourth YOWIE album. Unmatched for their a singular, befuddling style of hyper-composed rock, YOWIE’s instantly recognizable approach baffles and excites listeners. Yet, despite being unabashedly unnatural and counter intuitive at every turn, YOWIE grooves. For “Taking Umbrage”, the ambition of the material demanded YOWIE assemble an international lineup with impeccable credentials. The band now features Daniel Kennedy (also of the band Cleric, which has its own progressive metal oeuvre, and has worked with the likes of John Zorn and Trey Spruance), as well as Jack Tickner (Basil's Kite, Wollongong, and solo microtonal work), in addition to founding member, Defenestrator (YOWIE, YOWIE and YOWIE). “Taking Umbrage” is both the group's longest album and the one that took the longest to create, and one listen will show listeners why. There is no fast-tracking YOWIE’s meticulous approach to composition. “Taking Umbrage” raises the bar even higher, defying the boundaries of rock to forge a new path full of twists and turns that will challenge and excite aficionados of math rock, prog rock, RIO, extreme metal... and the outer limits and extremities of genres yet to be identified.