Canadian
Sludge/Stoner Rockers Tunguska Mammoth return after a 5 year absence.
The band will be releasing their epic new album Breathless in May
2018 via Deathbound Records
Breathless
has a heavier and progressive sound compared to their debut album. If
you’re into bands such as Baroness and Mastodon then Tunguska
Mammoth are definitely worth your time.
You can read my review of the album here.
I
was asked to do an interview with the band and I wanted to find out
the reasons behind the long absence and what inspired them to create
their new album.
You can find all that and more with this cool interview.
Hi
guys. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today.
Very
good! We had a lot of good feedback on the first single, Kings and
Queens, and we can’t wait to release the full album!
Before
we discuss your new album. Can you give a brief overview of how the
band formed and where it is today.
Tunguska
Mammoth was born in October 2010, from a group of friends already
playing in a cover band. We released a 3 songs EP in June 2011 that
we recorded in our rehearsal room. We then released our first full
album in 2013, and it includes the re-recorded songs from the EP.
After promoting the album we started working on new songs. In 2017 we
entered the studio to record our new album, which will be released
May 11th.
Why
did you choose Tunguska Mammoth as the name for your band.
Cuz
it’s badass, isn’t it ? We searched “Loudest event on earth”
on google, and added a big hairy animal name to it.
How
would you describe your overall sound.
Somewhere
on the edge of the stoner/sludge scene and the more traditional metal
scene. It’s really riff-oriented, to say the least. It’s a bit
like you said yourself, Steve : fast-paced stoner/sludge metal.
You’re
about to release your excellent new album – Breathless – What
can people expect from the album. As it’s quite different to your
previous album.
A
lot of bands say the same thing when they release a new record: it’s
more mature, and songs feel more natural and less constructed. And
it’s no exception for us. Breathless is more complex, more refined
and more researched than the first one. We’ve learned a lot from
the writing the first album, and you can feel the departure from the
very “raw” compositions from that era. We also changed course on
the vocals, we focused instead on using the singing as an integral
tonal instrument instead of wall-to-wall screaming. It gave a whole
new dimension to the band’s sound that we’re more than happy to
exploit. All in all, Breathless forgoes the “rock” and “raw”
sound of the previous record, and now aligns with songs like “The
Plan” and “Ashes to Dust” from that album.
What
are the main themes of the album.
Breathless
was approached differently from the first record. Whereas the first
was a concept album about a mammoth-lead apocalypse, the new one has
not a single song related to any other, so there's no more narrative
track, no story arc, no concept anyhow. It's more about personal
struggles, illnesses, and a grim outlook on life in general. We
thought it would be easier to write than a concept album where you
have to tie all the songs together somehow, but it was as hard: each
song has to stand up on its own. Also, for The Yellow Sign, we
adapted passages from the famous The King in Yellow from Robert W.
Chambers. It was a first for us, and also a good exercise in
adaptation.
Who
is releasing the album and what formats is the album being released
upon.
Deathbound
Records will release the album digitally, and we will release a CD in
limited edition (only 200 will be made).
What
influenced you when writing and recording the album.
Of
course, all the bands that get featured and reviewed on blogs like
Outlaws of the Sun inspire us as much for the writing as for the
sound, but we add a generous serving of hard rock and heavy metal
too. Everyone in the band is aligned on different styles, too, so
that’s why you can hear hints of black metal, hints of progressive,
and so on.
Was
recording the album an easy or hard experience.
This
was a demanding experience, because Pierre-Hugues, who also drums for
the band, took care of the recording. It needed several evenings and
days of work during the summer and fall, and we all have busy
schedules outside of music, which made the recording process pretty
complex. As for the vocals, it was also necessary to work a lot in
the studio, since the texts were finished after the beginning of the
recording process. It was thus necessary to make sure that the
melodies were good, and that the final result was up to our
expectations.
Moreover,
Pierre-Hugues also mixed the whole thing, and as he requires no less
than the perfection of himself, he worked countless hours on the
product to reach the final product with a sound that appealed to the
whole group, despite everyone's differing preferences.
It’s
been almost five years since you released your last album. Why the
long wait for a follow-up record.
We’re
slow! And we must say that we had a few shows in these last 5 years,
which slowed our pace for writing, too. It took about one year to
record, mix and master the album. Add to that a delay to make sure
we’d release the album at a good time of the year, when we can tour
without fear of riding in a snowstorm.
Breathless
has a different sound compared to your last album. Was that because
you’ve evolved as musicians since that album. Or did you just want
a different style of sound.
It’s
definitely both. Of course, considering the timespan between the two
albums, we matured as a band and individually. Also, we managed to
refine our sound live. Learning from this and after the experience of
the first album, we managed to have a great balance between
instruments. For Breathless we really wanted to have a clearer and
more present bass, separate it better from the guitar tones. We think
we succeeded and it sounds really great!
What
is the song-writing method in the band. Is it a group collective or
down to one individual.
A
mix of individual and group contributions. Some songs have
practically been made by one person (and still later adapted by the
group), and others are the result of a collective effort where each
member contributed ideas for songs.
Will
you be promoting and touring this album heavily. Or will you just be
focusing on gigs closer to home.
It
will be mostly shows near home, weekends here and there. We would
like to go further, but we don’t want to leave for several months
and let go of our jobs. If we go further, it would be for a short
tour or for an interesting opportunity, like getting invited to a
festival.
You’re
from Canada which has a very good reputation indeed amongst the
Doom/Stoner/Sludge Metal community. What is the current state of the
Canadian Hard Rock/Heavy Metal scene. Do you have an active community
where you can put on regular gigs.
Canada
is so big that going to play in the west equals debt. There are some
cities that are actually interesting, that we would like to visit,
but they are so far from each other that one should make sure to have
concrete guarantees to go there, and let’s just say that it does
not happen often.
Do
you have any plans to travel and play abroad in the future.
We
are open on whatever plans that could happens, but we are not
currently planning anything.
The
album cover is very cool indeed. What’s the story behind the album
cover. Who designed it and how much input did you have into the final
design.
The
photo was taken by Maxime when he was on his way to his home town to
see his family. It is a lake / marsh near the road. You can even see
it on google maps at the following coordinates: Latitude: 46.53576 |
Longitude: -73.783663. This is the “Lac Pigeon” lake. Maxime
later worked with different filters in order to help find a direction
to take, and Paolo took the photo to turn it into album art by adding
graphic elements, changing the contrast, colors, etc. It is therefore
a cover made 100% by the group, like most elements of the group. It's
very DIY.
Thanks
for doing this interview. Before you go do you have anything to say
to your fans. Best of luck with the new album.
Thank
you for giving us the opportunity for this interview, and thanks for
the reviews and all. It’s thanks to blogs and medias like you that
we can make ourselves known throughout the world. And for our fans,
and our future fans, thank you for supporting us. Whenever we sell
our t-shirts to a faraway country, it’s like a solid pat on the
back, and it gives us the courage to continue and to release new
songs (even if it takes time!).
Words
by Steve Howe and Tunguska Mammoth
Thanks
to Olivier at Deathbound Records for arranging this interview. Thanks
to Tunguska Mammoth for doing this interview.
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