Release Date: July 07th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
Imperator: Tracklisting
Holy Goat
Long Drive
Backdoor
King Of The Dead
Monolith
Bloodworm
Formless
Members
Jay Rodeo
Matt Bradford
Josh Micallef
Review:
Imperator is the debut album from New Zealand Stoner Metallers Mammuthus and the band play a similar sound to their fellow KIWI's and legendary heavy hitters BEASTWARS though Mammuthus play with a more Fuzzier outlook. The album is full of world weary Psychedelic grooves with Mammuthus taking cues from bands such as ELDER, BEASTWARS and KYUSS whilst retaining a classic style of Fuzzed Up Stoner Metal with a modern Post-Doom vibe allowing the album to have it's style of Spaced Out Heaviness.
Opening songs Holy Goat and Long Drive have echoes of KYUSS especially with the vocals and catchy aggressive grooves that Mammuthus plays here with wild creative abandonment. Touches of Prog Rock and Sludgy soundscapes work superbly well with the slightly distorted Fuzz Rock instrumental beats that can be quite deafening in places which shows a different level of heaviness to Mammuthus overall sound. The lyrics are quite inspired and work amazingly well with the subtle "Sledgehammer" based delivery of the music. Pitch Perfect vocals capture both the classic heyday of 90's Stoner Metal and modern day surroundings that build upto an exciting style.
Third song Backdoor is a more rebellious song and packs a lot of different styles throughout its three and a half minute runtime. The sludgy based guitars venture into Desert/Stoner Rock flair with the kick-ass singalong lyrics that even had me singing along in no time at all. Vocals are impressive yet again which do feel more accustomed to the Doom Rock/Metal movement but they benefit from the superb lyrics that Mammuthus have written for this track. Just wait for the intense drumming towards the end of the song. As that's one of the standout parts of this track and perhaps on the whole album.
Fourth song King Of The Dead sees Mammuthus finally unleash the "LOW & SLOW" and "AMPLIFIER DISTORTION'' element of their music for one of the most powerful and intense parts of the album. For the first half, the track is purely instrumental with that "LOW & SLOW" creative drive easily reminding me of BEASTWARS. However, the song becomes its own thing when the Doom based vocals appear courtesy of an ace guest vocal appearance from Mark Mundell of Planet Of The Dead fame. This is one of the gloomiest and heaviest tracks of the album. The instrumental work from Mammuthus is sublime with the band moving across many different styles of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal with a distorted FUZZY sound holding everything together.
The final three tracks of the album Monolith, Bloodworm and Formless sees Mammuthus go for a straight up Doomed Out delivery with the music becoming more free-roaming when the progressive and sludgier moments appear. There's still a whole lot of Psychedelic based FUZZ being played mostly on Monolith and Bloodworm. The atmosphere can be more restrained with Mammuthus experimenting with a Post-Doom or Post-Stoner style of delivery which moves them into ELDER and WEEDPECKETR territory on Monolith. One of the standout tracks on the album is perhaps Monolith.
The final song Formless has EJ from fellow KIWI Sludge/Stoner Metallers End Boss and EJ offers a more soulful style of vocals that can be more Blues based and even COSMIC in places. The music moves rather slowly with that Post-Doom sound moving the song at a cautious slow pace. The second half of the song is where the "real magic" happens when Mammuthus return to their HEAVY DOOMED OUT WAYS for an unrelenting blast of different STONER based sounds.
Imperator is a wickedly entertaining album with superb production values throughout. The album is packed full of great tracks that showcase another great band to discover from the New Zealand Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.
Imperator will be available to buy on DD from Friday July 07th 2023.
Links:
