Swedish/American Old School Death Metal trio Ravaged By The Yeti are back with their follow-up release to their 2023 debut Apex Predator in the shape of Snowbound Horror, an eleven-track, thirty-four-minute slab of icy blood-splattered OSDM.
Ravaged By The Yeti – Snowbound Horror
Release Date: 10 July 2026
Words: Jools Green
Thankfully, past rumours of Ravaged By The Yeti’s demise were overexaggerated as they rise from their frost-ravaged tomb with a fresh line-up. For this release, Michael Borders on bass and Jon Rudin on drums have taken over from Jon Skäre and Jonny Pettersson. As a result, the first thing that will hit fans of the previous album is a notable difference in the sound.
The first offering was a very fast-tempo, manic offering with a Grindcore edge and a slightly thinner sound, whereas this release is more of a mid-paced plodder. Snowbound Horror is chunkier and more OSDM, rich with eerie grooves and a more downtuned edge that bears much more of a Rogga signature to it. You will get no complaints from me about that.
Another difference is the length of the tracks. The predecessor followed a Grindcore layout of two dozen shorter, sharp shocks of tracks. This time you get fewer tracks, but they follow a more Death Metal duration.
Lyrically, it continues with themes revolving around a marauding, blood-crazed Yeti, with a good degree of tongue-in-cheek humour woven in, the kind you get in ’80s blood-splatter horror.
From the opening notes of the first track, Vengeance In Fur, you immediately sense an atmosphere of one severely annoyed marauding Yeti, unhappy about being disturbed by humans but sensing an opportunity for a tasty meal or two.
The pounding rhythms echo his angry pounding footfall as the angry, freshly awakened beast is set to go on a rampage. A superb opening piece that oozes atmosphere and malicious intent aimed at the foolish humans who dared to rouse him from his slumber, with Rogga’s deep growling vocal delivery building the atmosphere as he delivers the gripping narrative.
Human Spoil continues in the same rampaging, pounding delivery as the Yeti is moving down the snowy slopes now on the hunt for human flesh. It is a little quicker and more intense, but balanced with repeating dark reflective melodic swathes. The mid-point drop is punchy and powerful, and it contrasts nicely with the melodic elements. I do love how the lyrics describe his “chewing through the gristle, gnarly teeth masticating, the human flesh.”
Much of the pace, swirling riffing and unrelenting drum battery of the next piece, By The Hands Of The Beast, reflects the previous album but with a more defined Rogga feel to the construct. I love the Doomy death drops, which add more contrast and texture, and the melodic parts are just downright sinister. Again, it is vividly descriptive lyrically with the humans being “crushed like rotting fruit” and “ripped apart like a bloody feast.”
As Fangs Go Deep opens on a filthy, repeating, plodding riff which is superbly hypnotic. The sound thickens with menace as the vocals hit. The pace quickens every time the lines “as fangs go deep you will scream, as fangs go deep you won’t breathe out” and the closing leadwork echo that repeating riff with sharp, sinister clarity.
The sinister plod of the opening riffs of Beast Prey has you looking over your shoulder to see if you are being stalked. As the pace builds, so does the unease. I love this piece. There is good variance of pace, it is packed with atmosphere, and the blasts of leadwork and deep vocalisations build on that further.
The pace elevates for Frozen Stiff, as the Yeti’s food is frozen out in the icy wastelands for maximum freshness in “nature’s own meat locker.” The driving riffs are punctuated with sharper riffs alongside more ominous swathes. This is a piece that creates some great mental imagery again.
They Came Through The Cold continues in a similar vein with driving riffs but packing even more ominous punch. You get a couple of ominous drops which build the atmosphere, and as the pace ramps up towards the close, you get a superb blood-curdling scream.
Tusk Of The Yeti unleashes another hypnotic, driving delivery alongside ominous undertones and blood-curdling screams.
Death By Icicle is a great track. It packs a massive punch, delivering powerfully sharp riffs and pounding drum rhythms with the ominously protracted vocals snarling through the midst, with the bleak lead work at the close adding contrast.
Title track Snowbound Horror is a crushing pounder that gradually builds in pace, depth and unnerve, dropping back to rebuild that unnerve with much of it harbouring a heavy groove that is hugely catchy.
Final offering, the icy and raw haunting crusher Land Of Ice And Snow closes this chapter of the saga, taking a final back glance at the inhospitable landscape and what it may or may not harbour.
Snowbound Horror is a great listen. You will find yourself smiling at the ’80s blood splatter horror atmosphere (as a fan of that era, I know I did) created by the lyrical content.
Although I quite liked the predecessor, I actually prefer this follow-up. It is catchier with a good flow to the sound. This is an essential listen for Swedish OSDM fans, so “prepare yourself for the irresistible impact of the Snowbound Horror.”
Ravaged By The Yeti release Snowbound Horror on 10 July 2026 via Testimony Records. For more details, visit spkr.store/collections/ravaged-by-the-yeti.
