Sunday 28 June 2020

Hammada - Atmos (Album Review)


Release date: June 26th 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

ATMOS – Tracklisting

1.Occasus 09:40
2.Nox 05:29
3.Heliokratia 09:09
4.Ether 06:10
5.Helios 09:32
6.Azimut 05:36
7.Domizil 15:22

Members

Kristian Schulze: Vocals, Organ
Christian Döring: Guitars, Synthesizers
Lenz Fiedler: Bass Guitar
Sönke Tautorus: Drums


Review

Psychedelic Desert/Stoner Rockers Hammada spare no expense with their debut album Atmos. As the album is loud, bold and brash from start to finish. The band offer almost 60 minutes of highly progressive sounds that you wouldn’t expect from a Desert/Stoner Rock album such as this. The album is quite theatrical especially with the vocals and heavier riffs that appear on the album. So expect the unexpected with Atmos.

The Psychedelic themes can be too powerful places but it’s hard to deny what great ideas Hammada have written for this album with Kristian’s dramatic and over-the-top vocals holding everything together superbly well. The band are influenced by the legendary Desert/Stoner Rock scenes with bands such as KYUSS, Fu Manchu and Yawning Man being the main starting point for Hammada to add a more cinematic Psychedelic sound.

The majority of the songs run between 6 to 9 minutes in length with the final song running past the 15 minutes mark. So expect the band to go in slightly off-beat direction on certain parts of the album. The Psychedelic and Spaced Out themes of the album is what makes Atmos work so well. As this allows the band to write outlandish lyrics to match with the Progressive Desert/Stoner Rock grooves never feeling out of place.

The standout songs for myself are: Occasus, Nox, Helios, Aizmut and the final song Domizil which runs for 15 minutes or so. These are the songs which have the best ideas, vocals and most importantly where the loudest and most interesting riffs appear. Though the offer songs are good as well. I felt the songs listed above held my attention the most on the album.

Maybe the album does run out of steam towards the end but it’s the overall journey that Hammada take you upon with Atmos. You’re never bored for a single second and that’s another wonderful part of the album. Hammada are never afraid to try something new with their music and it allows Atmos to have a more adventurous feel compared to other Desert/Stoner Rock albums.

Overall, Atmos is superbly entertaining debut album which will no doubt attract a huge wave of admirers within the Desert/Stoner Rock community.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp