GREEN YETI ~ THE YETI HAS LANDED .... review

When three members of four of Greece's finest "underground" bands get together in the studio you know the results are going to be something a little special. The three members in question, Danis Avramidis (Brotherhood of Sleep) bass, Michael Andresakis (Reversed Nature, Stonerow) vocals,guitar and Fotis Antoniou (9oz of Nothing) drums, have, under the collective name of Green Yeti, recorded their first full length album "The Yeti has Landed".

Title track "The Yeti Has Landed" begins with the sounds of modern day electronic gadgetry set against a swirling wind type effect before the band enter into a titanic pounding riff fest. Heavy and mesmeric with both subtle and seismic shifts in time and dynamic throughout its 16:28 the sound achieved here is one of vastness and space and one that does, and I hate to use this tired cliché, take you on a journey. Andresakis vocals, clean powerful and at times manta-like, soar and boom over a backdrop of ever changing rhythmic paths superbly supplied and delivered by Avramidis' gnarly fluid bass lines and Antoniou's powerful and precise drumming. Stunning!
"Acari" opens with yet more electronic soundbytes then segues into a wash of gentle guitar arpeggios and shimmering cymbals, Avramidis enters with a menacingly dirty bass line and the groove from the guitar and drums slowly begin to follow the same dark brooding path. Layer by layer the groove builds until exploding like a volcano into the songs main riff and is then joined by the vocals. Although Andresakis again delivers his vocals with passion and power it is his stunning guitar work that stands out on this track, he rips and tears through the heavy rhythmic pulses laid down all around him with scintillating solo's, note perfect and brimming with feel and depth.
"Old Man" brushes away the use of clever sound effects as an intro and instead hits the listener straight between the ears with its titanic heavy riffage. Avramidis and Antoniou lock together tight, the pairing laying down a stunningly forceful onslaught of bass and drum into which Andresakis injects his guitar and vocals. At around a quarter of the way in the sonic barrage dissipates and a spoken soundbyte enters underpinned by a gloriously sensual bass line that, with the drums and guitar, slowly builds until erupting into a bluesy heavy psych groove before shifting once again via another soundbyte into a doomy stoner metal groove with Andresakis vocal sounding almost Morrison-esque in its delivery.
"Uppervols" closes the album with an eclectic mix of space, psych and heavy stoner that sees the band firing on all cylinders. Heavy, atmospheric and strangely uplifting the song finds the band hitting a groove somewhere between Sleep and Elder but salting it all with pure Green Yeti!
Check'em out....