THINGS TO COME...

There are many bands with the name YETI but this is the most complex and intriguing one. This YETI was based in Ft. Worth, TX and started out as the trio of Tommy Atkins on bass, Jon Teague on drums and Eric Harris on guitar but once keyboardist Doug Ferguson (Ohm, Muz, Tone Float, Vas Deferens Organization) jumped ship from a similar band named Est Mort in which both Atkins and Teague once played in, the final lineup was complete and the quartet cranked out this all instrumental album of four lengthy tracks that fused progressive space rock with zeuhl and avant-prog with sludge metal. The album is a sonic assault of the senses as heavy doomy guitar stomps and progressive rock workouts are joined by otherworldly spacey keyboard segments and dreamy atmospheric meanderings.

More than any other band, YETI reminds me of the French zeuhl band Archaïa which released only one self-titled album in 1977 in the way it delivers a jittery zeuhl sonic trajectory that zigzags accompanied by wild oscillating synthesized sequences throughout the four behemoth tracks with the finale "Est Mort" just shy of the 17 minute mark. While very much like Archaïa in the zeuhl department, the band crafts a much more sophisticated and sinister approach as it melds in long labyrinthine progressive rock workouts with angular heaviness in the vein of "Red" era King Crimson only augmented with a more doom and sludge metal delivery. The guitar is heavily distorted while the bass slyly slinks up and down the fretboard like a slithering snake on steroids. While the percussion isn't the band's strongest draw, there are moments when the frenetic drumming is allowed off its leash.

Due to the lengthy playing times, the album comes off a bit as an avant-prog band in the vein of those spooky early Univers Zero type albums such as "Heresie" with unrelenting bombast, haunting atmospheric jet streams that glaze the horizon just beyond the heavy rock oriented guitar, bass and drum and extremely interesting progressions that offer a wealth of variations around a central melodic theme that slowly drifts in and out of the main frame of reference. This is an album where the keyboards dominate with Doug Ferguson often stealing the show with some amazing finger workouts as well as strange atmospheric sweeps in the vein of Hawkwind. The tracks meander through various tempo changes and exercise caution in delivering bombastic outbursts of angular complexities but feel free to really let loose at times. Overall the music nonchalantly lollygags from one lazy fuzz-laden cadence to the next.

Each track has its own charm with the keys more often than not creating the distinction but the true treat comes in the longest track and closer "Est Mort" that starts off sounding more like a possessed alien accordion practice session that delivers a chilling atmospheric preamble which allows the frenetic guitar riff to burst in and the bantering bass line to create the proper stabilizing effect for the oscillating keys to whiz in and out of sequence like a possessed theremin in the midst of an exorcism. The track builds and builds as all the instruments take the liberty of building off of the other until a bombastic climax unfolds. The track goes through stages of lighthearted space rock and orotund metallic sludgery with the keys providing not only atmospheric instability but also the grounding effect of pleasant melodic ear hooks. This is one of my favorite prog space rock albums of the new millennium as it perfectly balances simplicity with some of the most outrageous prog gymnastics allowed by law. Highly recommended.