The fabulously named Iowa-based duo Telekinetic Yeti release Primordial their follow up the rather excellent Abominable on Tee Pee Records, and appropriately it’s a beast.

Notably minimalist in its composition, which serves to emphasize the satisfyingly abrasive low end, title track Primordial kicks off proceedings with a very potent low and slow deep groove. This is made even more impressive by the lack of a bass player.

As song titles such as ‘Ancient Nug’, ‘Toke Wizard’, ‘Stoned Ape Theory’ suggest this is a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and this is reflected in the music. Indeed, the faster riff towards the end of the rather excellent track ‘Ancient Nug’ inexplicably reminds me of ‘Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds, and to be honest given the levity present on this album I wouldn’t be surprised if that was intentional. 

Whilst overall the tracks are heavy and slow as would be expected from a stoner doom album, there are several tracks that rattle along at a fair old pace, with enthusiastic energy to them.  ‘Ancient Nug’. The songwriting has notably matured since Abominable, with numerous juxtapositions and a creative melting pot which hit on several levels. 

Tracks like  ‘Beast’ & ‘Toke Wizard’ have nice Sabbath-inspired trills and flourishes. ‘Rogue Planet’, has a stomp at the heart of it, a veritable psychedelic spiral of riffs and noise.  Finishing off with the wonderfully heavy ‘Cult of Yeti’ the album is brutal when it needs to be yet creative and imaginative too. An excellently produced minimalist retro sound coupled with modern sensibilities, it is a potent blend of old and new with vital energy to it, which will no doubt captivate many a listener outside of the more traditional genre aficionado. 

I can’t recommend this album highly enough, not only to fans of the genre itself but even to casual fans of early Sabbath there’s going to be plenty to get your teeth into with this creative release, which may well defy a few expectations about a stoner album. 

Buy the album here: https://teepeerecords.com/products/telekinetic-yeti-primordial-cd-lp

8 / 10

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