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amammoth thefireabove
Artist: Amammoth
Title: The Fire Above
Genre: Sludge Metal / Stoner Metal / Doom Metal
Release Date: 19th March 2021
Label: Electric Valley Records


Album Review

I have listened to lots of Stoner Sludge over the past few years. Bands such as MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD, ALLUNAH and COLD IN BERLIN to name but a few. Here is another band to add to the list. No female singers are heard here but the variations on the sludgy theme are all present. “Who are AMAMMOTH?” I hear you exclaim! Well, AMAMMOTH hail from Sydney, Australia and have been creating their brand of Stoner Metal for a few years now, when they actually formed, I cannot currently ascertain. But, in 2019 the band released their first EP ‘Blackwitch’.

This is a 6-track debut of around 40 minutes duration. The album is based around two themes: The sun as the creator of life as opposed to religion or religions and the offensive hegemony of elites such as politicians, royalty and celebrity. So, let’s spit bile then at these groups by excreting pent up displeasure in a sonically dry throated and at times rather spacey bowel movement. This is like listening to the sweats of a heroin induced stupor as they ooze out of the pores on a sun-dried skin cooked on an Ozzy beach in mid-summer whilst the salty air stings the eyes as they narrow to fend off the sun’s glare. ‘At The Sun’ and ‘Shadows’ illustrate this perfectly using hallucinogenic guitars veined with raspy throatiness. I don’t have any spliff at this point in time but if I did…

‘Blade Runner’ starts with drums that pound in a discombobulated manner that has me contorted like a gnarled tree living off the juices of mushrooms. I keep wanting to shout “CELLS!!!” to re-centre myself! The vocal at this point is serrated enough to slice bread! A head bob or two confirms my liking of this track before the album’s finale. ‘Walk Towards What Blinds You’ could be renamed ‘Walk Towards The Fist As It Rushes Towards Your Face’. You know that exhilarating feeling you get momentarily when you do something stupid before the “Oh fuck!” thought travels from your brain to your mouth to be shot out in a pained regret filled tone? That’s what I get from this.

Now that I have listened to this, I can now take the sun’s energy, topple the hegemony, build up a new one for the generations behind me to rail against and then we can go through the same shit again but with a slight variation. Not bad, not bad at all. It has some nice moments in it. There’s no new ground broken in my view but what you get is what’s on the tin. It’s raw and visceral and hits the spot like a sugary tea and a shortbread biscuit!


Tracklist

A1. Heal
A2. The Sun
A3. Shadows
B1. Rise
B2. Blade Runner
B3. Walk Towards What Blinds You (Blood Bong)


Line-up

Scott Fisher – Vocals / Guitars
Scott Wilson – Drums
Luis Lipovac – Bass / Backing Vocals and Organ on ‘Shadow’ and ‘Rise’


Website

https://www.facebook.com/amammoth


Cover Picture

amammoth thefireabove


Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10


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