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5.5
- Bands:
ACID MAMMOTH - Duration: 00:41:56
- Available from: 04/05/2024
- Label:
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Heavy Psych Sounds
Acid Mammoth’s return to the scene almost seems to play, in the title, with the publications of the central phase of Cathedral’s career, when Lee Dorrian’s band filtered with particular emphasis on stoner genres, but above all it seems like a clear declaration of intent on heaviness and the impact that the tracks here have to offer to our ears.
It is certainly a record in which the Greek band strongly believes, as evidenced by the three singles released so far and, for goodness sake, the craft is there; the group, after almost ten years of career, confirms that it has solid songwriting, has already demonstrated for some time that it has studied its masters carefully and continues to be a good idea to listen to in the mid-afternoon at a Desertfest or similar. But, once we get over the ganja smiles, the head-scratching and the horns raised to the sky, waved rigorously at a slow pace, the feeling of the usual task well done but without flashes is ever stronger. There is the bucolic horror of damsels dancing naked on the English moors, the muddiest and stoner moments, albeit at reduced bpm, and obviously a strong doom component which, through their tutelary deities Electric Wizard goes back to Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General, not to mention again, as in every previous review, the long shadow of His Majesty Tony Iommi: “One With The Void” is the most sensational example, thanks to the sound of the guitar which, in a long segment, refers to the ending of “Symptom Of The Universe”. In general, it is only the guitar that gives, in the acid and full-bodied solos, small but welcome variations.
If, in fact, a certain Made in England trademark remains the constant beacon of Acid Mammoth, their limit is precisely that of not daring. To stay in the land of Albion, groups like Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats have amply demonstrated that it is possible to play on consolidated, or even almost moldy, styles, finding decidedly more marked forms of originality and dynamism. The flashes here must instead be sought with the lantern: “Fuzzorgasm (Keep on Screaming)” gives space to a small accordion scary movie, while more liquid and expanded moments emerge here and there thanks to the explosion of fuzz (“Garden Of Bones”). For the rest, the construction of the album – forty minutes or so, with the ending entrusted to a more jammed and longer song – remains the same, just as the structure of the verses and the rhythm of the songs are almost always the same: a continuous sabbath without particular dynamic peaks, if we exclude the brief initial acceleration of “Atomic Shaman”.
After four albums, honestly, the sense of boredom prevails a bit, rather than that of pleasant security.
