Mamont - Passing Through the Mastery Door (album review)

Mamont presents eight fuzzed-out psychedelic head-swirlers on its debut album, released on Ozium Records.  It's rare to come across a band so aptly named, with just the right album art to match.  The name alone conjures images of a Woolly Mammoth stomping through the tundra, the album artwork tells us that it's actually in the clouds.

Intro "Mammuten" really acheives that woolly mammoth stomp sound with fuzz and toms, a performance on a level with the most muscular, sword-wielding moments from Conan's "Monnos" album.  It sets the tone for the record and is a statement the band revisits throughout, this is the band's signature.  The idea of a fuzzed-out mammoth stomp pervades the songwriting, at times charging head on from beginning to end, at others building serene green fields of melodic psychedelia for them to stomp through and shake things up.

There are mammoth riffs on showcase too (see "Blind Man (Part III)"), that stand among the best of their countrymen peers, but it doesn't do to think of them as another Swedish retro rock band.  They are a psychedelic fuzz band that takes influence from all eras of rock n roll, blending and reshaping them into a sound and a mood all their own.

There's a quietly confident feel to the album that comes from a band having found just the sound they wanted.  The thick, heavy tones are crushing in approach, yet at the same time, almost gentle in their delivery.  A mammoth that could trample all in its wake but chooses to live and let live.  The guitar tone is molasses thick and heavy without being overly aggressive.  That said, this band 's got balls to back it all up, but they're like the big guy who doesn't need to constantly prove himself by going around starting fights all the time.  When things do get heavy though, they take care of business.

The more I listen to the album, and think about it, the more I like it.  This could be one I stick with for quite some time.

Highlights include: "The Secret of the Owl" and "Satans Fasoner"

Rating: 4/5



From: Nykoping, Sweden

Genre: Fuzz Rock, Psychedelic, Stoner, Grunge

Reminds me of: Conan, The Doors, Mother of God, Mudhoney, The Shovell

Release Date: September 28, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Pick a flower with your nose and eat it, man.

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