EP REVIEW: Within The Hollow Earth – All Hail The Yeti

Though hailing from Hollywood, ALL HAIL THE YETI are sonically far closer to New Orleans and the sludgy noise it’s known for. Subjects include folklore, local legends, the mystical and the unknown; melding the slow, bluesy riffs of early CROWBAR with hard rock sensibilities and even some hardcore grit, their latest EP Within The Hollow Earth is a slab of groovy riffs, gruff vocals, dirty hooks and anthemic choruses. 

Opener Bury Your Memory sounds for all the world like a NOLA B-side with its slow, thicker-than-molasses guitar tone, but the vocals echo far more of CROWBAR and even the more melodic moments of EYEHATEGOD. The churning verse riff contrasts nicely with the slow, plodding pinch-harmonic driven chorus guitar work. Headless Valley charges headlong into a fast-paced bluesy verse that wouldn’t be too out of place in modern southern rock. It’s this versatility that lends the music a chameleonic quality, shifting between towering hard rock, sludge and 70s rock seemingly at the drop of a hat and it all flows fairly seamlessly. 

Funeral Heart, for one, takes the aggro of modern stadium metal and infuses it with a swagger and grittiness that would make it feel right at home on any hard rock radio station. Similarly, Nidavelir is a rollicking, stomping shot in the arm that’s short and punchy, revelling in its attitude and fast-paced verses either side of an anthemic chorus. Closing on The Great Dying, it’s not only the shortest song on here but the abrupt ending leaves a cliffhanger, as if there’s more to come – but it never does. That’s no bad thing; it works in the band’s favour, especially given the quality of the preceding songs, leaving anticipation for more. 

ALL HAIL THE YETI know exactly who they are; Within The Hollow Earth oozes with character and personality, not just musically but in the lyrics and subject matter they draw from. It’s a stew of the supernatural and sludge, with songs about the secrets of the Nahanni (Headless Valley, perhaps unsurprisingly, deals with the Valley of Headless Men in the Northwest Territories of Canada) amongst many others. Theirs are songs that echo strange legends, folklore and the mystic amid the sludgy mire. More than anything, Within The Hollow Earth is a strangely uplifting album; mining the grim and the weird for inspiration to form something that’s sludgy but anthemic, with a strong sense of identity throughout. 

Rating: 7/10

Within The Hollow Earth is set for release on November 12th via minusHEAD Records.

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