Why do I feel that I should know All Hail The Yeti, yet I’m sure I’ve not come across them before? Perhaps their varied sound has something to do with it. Certainly, on spinning up Highway Crosses I felt little memories tingling, though they seemed to relate to other bands.
Imagine a toned down 5FDP. Or a slightly heavier Pop Evil. Somewhere in that realm between the two sits All Hail The Yeti. Easily accessible, head-noddy at times and with a sound that varies both within and between individual tracks.
It’s the title track itself, with its pounding melodic chorus that reminds me of Pop Evil and that similarity shines through in several places where the vocals go all clean. Elsewhere, the sound is pretty down and dirty – stoner riffs and growled vocals scour at your eardrums. “World is Cold”, for instance, is downtuned, miserable and heavy. Even the clean vocals are downbeat, backed by discordant guitars.
“Seymour Avenue” is probably the heaviest song on the disc, a terrifying cruncher designed to splinter bones with its sheer chugging mass. “The Nuclear Dust”, which ends the album, is designed to test the mettle of any who dare enter a pit (and the lyrics apparently follow on from those on an earlier album).
However. The album overall doesn’t quite tickle me in the places I like to be tickled. There are so many good moments, but the album as a whole just didn’t stick with me. I can happily sit and listen to it through, but once it’s done I’m ready to move onto something else. Maybe I need to just put it on repeat and let it fester for a while – a grower, not a shower – but as it stands I’m glad I heard it… but I’m going to slam on Seasons in the Abyss while I kick back and start the weekend off.
Header image by Neil Zlozower
Highway Crosses is out on November 30th
