Location: Ontario
Country: Canada
Genre: Doom metal
Full length: Traditional Addictions
Format: Digital, vinyl
Label: Independent
Release date: July 24, 2026
The Canadian doom metallers Yeti on Horseback took four years developing “Traditional Addictions” as a convincing vehicle for its themes. Most of it explores the cycle of addiction and trauma, two conditions that have long existed hand in hand. Their debut album “The Great Dying” had a sound described as free flowing and soul crushing that earned them an accolade as doom metal’s hope for the future from Metal Injection.
While Yob, Electric Wizard, and Sleep delve into themes of spirituality, occultism, science fiction, and fantasy in their lyrics, Yeti on Horseback focuses on realism and physical aspects of existence, not all of them good. Their latest full-length features fluctuating, shifting, contrasting and unpredictable dynamics, waves of sound sinking into depths of disheartenment and climbing toward extreme levels of anguish and derangement, prompting a stark recognition of the physical and mental traumas associated with addiction. Its presentation, forbidding and almost intimidating in its minimalism, is the closest you’ll come to this sensation without actually succumbing to addiction.
Unlike the relaxed, easygoing atmosphere usually associated with stoner rock, Yeti on Horseback presents much darker perspectives. Guitar and bass tones are recorded for a balanced equilibrium, anchored by primitive percussional rhythms. Co-helmed with engineer/producer Greg Dawson at BWC Studios (specializing in traditional and ground breaking music), “Drug Addict” hits hard with plodding, endlessly repetitive loops of chord progressions that gradually build toward a crescendo, shattering classic doom conventions.
Over this cacophony, multiple vocal tracks produce a chilling series of howls, wails, and roars with growls and shrieks, expressions of pure agony generated from deep inside. Atmospheric guitars add emptiness to the heavier sounds, working with the persistent minimalism to create an irresistible, inexorable pull. Throughout the album, these atmospherics expand, giving the doomy guitars and bass room to breathe and gain presence. Imagine The Obsessed, Saint Vitus and Wino stripped to their essence with twice the distortion and depth, with free reign to voice the deepest horror.
Many of the band’s riffs evoke early death metal bands like Paradise Lost, Carcass, and Bolt Thrower; these influences become more apparent in tracks like “Mariner’s Lament” and “Through With This Flesh.” The album’s final track, “Erotic Goth Dad,” takes a different lyrical approach, addressing sexual and mental abuse within the church and the trauma it causes. Given its subject matter, it’s likely the album’s heaviest and most lyrically imposing song, sure to offend the religious right. But that’s the point as it calls out behaviors that many find offensive. With as much emotional weight as the band could infuse, it was also intended to be the album’s most diverse and commercially accessible. Added at the end, it leaves the direction of their next full-length open to explore further. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
S.S.: Vocals, soundscapes
R.P.: Vocals, guitar
M.S.: Lead guitar
S.M.: Bass, vocals
E.T.: Drums
Track list:
1. Drug Addict
2. Mariner's Lament
3. Through With This Flesh
4. Erotic Goth Dad
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