Unlike the mythical beast heralded in their name, Southern-fried groove metal crew All Hail The Yeti haven’t had time to skulk in forests and mountain caves. In the four years since releasing their self-titled debut, the Los Angeles quartet have signed with a new label, recruited new bandn members and written a second album, Screams From A Black Wilderness, that sounds very much like a breakthrough effort.
“I met the owner of MinusHead Records not long after we signed our first deal, and he was kind of bummed because he was a fan, but we were already deep into making the first record,” explains vocalist Connor Garrity. “He understood what we wanted musically, and he didn’t want to step in and change anything. It’s hard to find labels that don’t just want to find the next big band, and if they’re not that, they drop them.”
Connor and his bandmates – bassist Nicholas Diltz, drummer Ryan ‘Junior’ Kittlitz and new guitarist Alan Stokes, who was recommended by Junior after the previous guitarist left to pursue his country music project – were keen to start album two with a clean slate.
“When Alan came to try out, I said, ‘Let’s not play any of the old songs, let’s just write a new one’,” explains Connor. That song is now Let The Night Roar. We wanted to find someone we could write with, not just tour with, and it worked.”
Given their monstrous moniker, it should come as no surprise that this band draw inspiration from the darkest of sources. “I find it very mundane listeningto some angst-ridden dude’s problems about his life and his girlfriend,” laughs Connor. “Let The Night Roar is based on the last few hours that [cult leader] Jim Jones was talking, before his followers drank cyanide. We’re definitely inspired by the occult, but we’re not a Satanic band.”
Producer Matt Hyde (Deftones, Slayer) is at the helm of the new album’s sound.“He was pulling things out of me that I didn’t even think were possible!” says Connor. The Yeti is ready to roar, and it’s going to be loud.
SCREAMS FROM A BLACK WILDERNESS IS OUT ON MAY 13 VIA MINUSHEAD
