Mammuthus. That’s one helluva band name. It speaks of big-boned animals, heavy in tusks and voracious appetites. A menace and food source to early humans that desperately roamed their ice-infested hunting grounds during the last cold spell. Until some unknown event brought about their extinction a few thousand years ago, that is. The when or why nobody quite knows and opinions sharply diverge.
But let’s take this lumbering beast one step further. Mammuthus Imperator, the second word being the name of the record, is the full name of the piece. And whilst this ain’t the current description of the beast in use anymore,1 the RMR crew chuckled at the crafty wordplay. Further, the mushroom-infested purple skeleton on the album cover pretty much tells you where the band takes this piece.
And behold, Imperator here sounds like Purple Dawn on steroids with a slight dose of the gloomy Dust Prophet. This is full-tilt ’70s magic mushroom hypnotic groove on full display (Monolith and Formless). And the album does indeed exude that sweetish psychedelic odor in certain parts. Mammuthus will body-search all of your nooks and crannies with some ferocious yet mid-tempo syrupy sludge that excels in doom-laded cranky fuzz. To the point that some RMR folks returned to the equally cranky 2021 Hex A.D. piece for some guidance but found none.
This is Stoner Metal without that watery brew other bands like to serve. Instead, as of the start of Holy Goat, Imperator lets loose with a red-blooded, meaty brand of their own making. Without the loss of one second, you’ll experience the full monty of what Mammuthus is ready to throw at you. And it is damn impressive. Thick, thundering, churning riffs on downturned guitars, rumbling drum work, and a grouchy grating vocal delivery that loudly assaults your ear drums until the overload light starts to blink. And mind you, this might not be in the interest of the band. Many a reviewer out there doesn’t quite like the grumpy, rough power that comes with the style. It just grates on their nerves until they can no more.
And – to top it – Mammuthus here truly try to win the loudness war all over again. And here we ever thought that this was a thing of the past. But we stand corrected. Consequently, there often is a mighty wall of sound lurching toward you that wreaks havoc with the bass at times. So, luckily for these masters of the sticky doom stoner thing, the band’s idea of a multilayered delivery stops with employing downturned guitars, bass, and a good drum kit. None of those shiny accouterments other bands like to employ get into this here production. And this keep-it-simple mode of Imperator seems to be the secret formula employed by these antipodes of ours.
And yet again. This also renders the overall delivery of the record slightly repetitious. In other words, one often doesn’t quite know at what point of the record the needle is currently threading the vinyl. But looking at it as a whole, that’s small fry compared to the overall quality of this here offering.
And what should you listen to when short of time? Holy Goat or the slightly bluesy Bloodworm without a doubt if you like your stoner rough. Or if groove is your thing, check out the dreamy Monolith. Oh, and pay a visit to the smoky female vocals on Formless for ever more old-style grind and a certain Desert Rock flavor.
Ultimately though, Imperator is an honest record. It dispenses doom-laden Stoner Metal in its raw form. Authentic yet frugal, rough-hewn, reasonably brutal, full of burly riffs, and with irresistible groove galore. Thus, for seasoned adepts or n00bs of the genre, this truly is a record not to be missed. An impressive debut of a band not many around the metal community have yet heard about. But this is about to change, mark my words.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 7 July 2023
- Apparently the Imperator label has been ditched, it’s all the Columbian Mammoth now. Check Wikipedia Mammuthus Colombi | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_mammoth.-↩