Slomatics - Atomicult (Album Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2025. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Atomicult - Tracklisting

1.Obey Capricorn

2.Phantom Castle Warning

3.Auto-Skull

4.Relics

5.Night Grief

6.Physical Witching

7.Chrome Sisters

8.Biclops

9.Summer Skeletons

10.To Ultramegaphonium

Members

Marty Harvey (drums/vocals)

David Majury (guitar)

Chris Couzens (guitar)

Review

Cosmic Doom Heavyweights Slomatics return with another grand, bold and aggressive new musical adventure with the mightily named Atomicult. This is Slomatics eighth full length album for a career that’s spanned over twenty years. There’s been celebrated split releases with the likes of CONAN, Domkraft and Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard to name but a few.

The record sees Slomatics developing a more refined sound with multi-layered guitars and progressive drumming with the band sometimes playing music more closely associated with the likes of Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and Genesis which was there on their last album Strontium Fields but only in small doses. Everything is played on a grander and tighter creative scale with Marty’s vocals being more refined, restrained, calmer and quieter that has a certain Classic Rock or Commercial aspect especially within the Ambient Post-Rock movements that Atomicult contains.

The instrumental surroundings allows Slomatics to reinvent the Cosmic Doom/Stoner Metal landscape once more in their own undeniable and brilliantly original heavy image within the first few tracks of the album Obey Capricorn, Phantom Castle Warning and Auto-Skull. Intense drumming from Marty has a destructive effect which sees Chris Couzens and David Majury’s epic guitars weave different levels of distorted heaviness and the sci-fi leaning synths sees the band venture into the theatre of Post-Rock especially on the emotionally satisfying fourth track Relics. This allows Marty to demonstrate a vocal style we haven’t heard from him before which delivers with pure Soft Rock perfection.

However, with this being Slomatics, they prove why they’re one of the most original and destructive forces within the modern day Doom Metal scene with expeditions into COSMIC and PSYCHEDELIC landscapes where soulful melodies can appear out of nowhere to change the dimension of the entire record. The album does feel like a natural progression from Strontium Fields but with tighter, richer and concise production values that truly comes into great effect on later tracks of the album such as Night Grief, Physical Witching, Summer Skeletons and To Ultramegaphonium.

The lyrics written for this album are quite fantastical but one that delves into areas of Artificial Intelligence which evolves into a cautionary tale if we leave that dreaded AI upto their own devices. Long time readers of the blog may know that I absolutely LOVE and ADORE this band. Slomatics have always delivered some of the best Cosmic/Doom/Stoner Metal records of the last fifteen years and that form continues with Atomicult.

Swirling Ambient sounds, Post-Rock rhythms and gloomy synths all play a big part for Slomatics to conjure an exciting style of COSMIC DOOM that adds an eerie CINEMATIC feel to their music which still allows the band to explore new creative ground and storytelling narrative we haven't experienced from the guys. So expect to hear some vastly different music within the record that can be quite jaw-dropping in places.

Even the amazing album cover which is inspired by the King Crimson record cover from In the Court of the Crimson King shows you what to expect with a record that merges reality and fantasy into one warped PSYCHEDELIC journey of distorted paranoia.

Atomicult is my favourite album of the year. I don’t know if anything will come close to this amazing record but Slomatics have delivered a modern day classic with Atomicult and teaming up with Majestic Mountain Records for the album makes this the perfect album to own especially if you want to be taken on a thrilling and brilliantly aggressive musical spectacle with classic grooves that leave you questioning your own reality.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Viral Propaganda PR for the promo.

Atomicult is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records from the links below:

Majestic Mountain Records Pre-Order

Slomatics Bandcamp Pre-Order

 

Slomatics Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Mountain Of Misery - Shades Of The Ashes (Album Review)

Release Date: April 04th 2025. Record Label: Electric Witch Mountain Recordings. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Shades Of The Ashes - Tracklisting

Thornado

Follow The Sun

Mystify

Speed Kig

From Fall To Rise

Interlude

Lightness At The End

Blow

Members:

Kamil Ziółkowski - Everything

Review

Shades Of The Ashes is the new album from Psych Stoner Metal collective Mountain Of Misery and this is the band or creative project that is helmed by Kamil Ziółkowski from the mighty SPACESLUG. This is Mountain Of Misery’s third full length album with Kamil operating with a heavier sound compared to the previous albums released under this guise. The sound combines different elements of Post-Rock, Sludge Rock, Doom Metal and Stoner Metal with a distorted atmosphere being used more prominently with the music also having an aggressive and jagged appeal which lasts throughout the whole album.

The Scorched DESERT ROCK vibe is undeniable with Mountain Of Misery using levels of Drone and Distortion that results in a heavy atmospheric sound which closely resembles SPACESLUG at times but with Kamil writing some uplifting lyrics and being more experimental with his intense melodies. The opening batch of tracks Thornado, Follow The Sun and Mystify are some of the heaviest and progressive sounds that Mountain Of Misery have delivered but with a thrilling modern Post-Doom and Post-Stoner landscape with a delicate APOCALYPTIC FUZZ movement being quite forceful and superbly powerful at the same time.

The level of detail that Kamil applies to the record is astonishing especially when the different styles of Psych, Space and Cosmic passages that elevate the record onto greater meditative heights. Kamil’s vocals are exquisite yet again and fans of SPACESLUG will recognize them right away. There’s a sense of urgency to the vocals which gives the record an unpredictable energy especially when matched against the Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves that never feel out of place.

Shades Of The Ashes is quite vivid but with a soulful outlook especially on tracks Follow The Sun, Speed Kig,  From Fall To Rise and Blow. Kamil has tapped into the arena of CINEMATIC based music which allows him greater creativity and flexibility that he may not fully experience with SPACESLUG.

I love the deft sonic experimentation that Kamil has created and played with the different instruments that appear on this record. With some wonderful free-flowing AMBIENT and POST-ROCK movements, Mountain Of Misery has the “LOUD vs QUIET” dynamics nailed down to a fine art. This does feel like one of the best albums that SPACESLUG have never released but still allowing Kamil the opportunity to explore a different side to his musical persona which can be brilliantly HEAVY but with a subtle Sludge Rock vibe keeping everything grounded. 

Shades Of The Ashes is my favourite Mountain Of Misery record to date and if you’re a fan of SPACESLUG and the other projects that Kamil is a part of then be prepared to be blown away. As this is another must have record from Mountain Of Misery who is fast becoming one of my favourite bands/solo projects to emerge from the underground scene. 

Add this to your record collection now. You won’t be sorry.

 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Mountain Of Misery for the promo.

Shades Of The Ashes will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl via Electric Witch Mountain Recordings from Friday 04th April 2025.

Credits

Recorded at Electric Witch Mountain Recordings by Kamil Ziółkowski (January/February 2025) MIxed and Mastered by Haldor Grunberg (Satanic Audio) Produced by Kamil Ziółkowski & Haldor Grunberg All music and lyrics by Mountain Of Misery Cover artwork by Łukasz Puzdrowski LP Layout by Artur Rolik LP version in 2 colors (splatter and solid) available at Bandcamp site. mountainofmisery.bandcamp.com

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Red Eye - III (Album Review)

Release Date: February 28th 2025. Record Label: Discos Macarras. Formats: DD/Vinyl

III - Track Listing:

1.Ad Infinitum

2.Sagittarius A*

3.See Yourself

4.No Morning After

5.Beyond 

6.Stardust

7.Nebula 

8.The Nine Billion Names of God

Members

Pablo Terol Rosado (drums, percussion, synths, vocals).

Antonio Pérez Muriel (bass, synths).

Antonio Campos del Pino (guitar, vocals).

Review

Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers Red Eye new album III is my first exposure to this highly talented band’s epic Spaced Out and Doomed Out domain. Their previous two albums sadly passed me by and I’m bitterly disappointed at myself for that happening. As I love the music that Red Eye has created for all three albums. Red Eye play a cosmic blend of Fuzz, Doom, Psych, Stoner and Sludge grooves that breathes new life into the heavier realms of the Psychedelic and Space Metal scene. 

III sees Red Eye traverse their way through a fuzzy and kaleidoscope of different musical styles that is influenced by SLEEP, Mars Red Sky, Electric Wizard and Black Sabbath but doing this on their own hard-hitting creative terms. The sound is constantly bleak with the conceptual themes being used within the whole album. Red Eye can be quite forthcoming with the apocalyptic sound that’s played with reckless authority which manifests into some stunning cosmic and progressive sounding landscapes.

The record excels the most when Red Eye aims for that fuzzed up and down-tuned sweet spot which allows the music to be more melodic and heavier at the same time. The vocals from Pablo Terol Rosaldo and Antonio Campos del Pino are quite different to each other with Red Eye offering clean vocals and harsh growls throughout the whole experience. 

With familiar science fiction tropes and themes being used for the lyrics, Red Eye still manage to pull of the hard task of keeping their main theme highly original especially on tracks such as Ad Infinitum, Sagittarius A* and See Yourself.

The music itself is powered by down tuned and amplifier distorted melodies which also have a certain level of trippy paranoia to them. There’s some epic mind-expanding instrumental solos which bridge the gap between reality and alternative dimensions when the inevitable fallout of the addictive Psychedelic and Spaced Out sounds start to take effect on the later stages of the record.

The second half of the album sees Red Eye adding elements of Proto Metal and Metallic energy into their music which gives III a bit more extra “SPICE” where the levels of heaviness are concerned. I can also detect a slight UFOMAMMUT influence appearing within how the story develops on tracks such as Stardust, Nebula and The Nine Billion Names Of God which are all expertly delivered by Red Eye's highly original sound.

You maybe surprised when Red Eye adds a more commercial or stadium rock aesthetic to their music but this works brilliantly well into their favour. As the music becomes more grounded but offers some beautifully epic vocal harmonies straight from the 90’s Alt Rock/Metal scene. Though, to counter balance this, Red Eye experiments further with synths, digital voices and feedback loops for a sound that becomes highly more effective when the band opts for a more sludgier backdrop to deliver their music with.

Red Eye have evolved into one of the best bands I’ve heard from the Spanish Doom/Stoner Metal scene and III only solidifies that for me. III is an album that offers one of the most visual, cinematic and mind expanding trips from the Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal underground in quite some time. If you like your music with a full on APOCALYPTIC and DESTRUCTIVE sound then Red Eye are ready to take you on a mind-expanding trip. 

WOW is all I can say to sum up the entire album.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Red Eye and Discos Macarras for the promo.

III will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl via Discos Macarras from Friday 28th February 2025.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Lightsucker - Darkest (EP Review)

 

Release Date: February 21st 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Darkest - Track Listing:

Traversing Through The Void

The Grand Display

Descent

Aftermath

Members

Jussi – Bass

Tomi – Vocals

Atte – Guitar

Matti – Drums

Review

Darkest is the new EP from Doom/Sludge Metallers Lightsucker. I remember reviewing their debut album ZAMMAL back in 2016. when they were signed to Argonauta Records. The band have released a couple of records since then including their 2022 album Stonemoon. This EP is their heaviest record to date and if you dig bands such as Church Of Misery, EYEHATEGOD and DOWN but with a slight reliance on Cosmic/Psychedelic passages.

The EP only lasts for twenty minutes and has an lo-fi, seedy and sludgy approach which allows their underground Stoner Rock charms work their magic. The vocals vary from harsh growls to clean vocals but with a devilish attitude appearing from them. The music can be quite NOLA obsessive in places especially on tracks such as Traversing Through The Void and Aftermath. There are even moments of Prog Rock and classic sounding HEAVY METAL on the following tracks The Grand Display and Descent.

Darkest is a great mixture of old-school thrills and spills with a ferocious modern day Sludge/Stoner Metal attitude with Lightsucker showing brief glimpses of some extreme metal along the way. With the promise of more chapters from this story, Lightsucker are going to be around for quite some time and I'll be interested and excited to hear how the story will unravel....

Until then, Darkest is a superb EP from Lightsucker and offers solid entertainment within it's short runtime that leaves you wanting to hear more.

Words by Steve Howe

Darkest will be available to buy digitally from Friday 21st February 2025.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Observers Release Cosmic New Single And Music Video "Into The Eye" From Upcoming New Album The Age Of The Machine Entities

Ahead of instrumental doom crew Observers' debut album 'Age of the Machine Entities", out March 4, the band presents new single "Into The Eye" and its accompanying music video. As beautiful as it is mysterious, the track is brought to life by Clint Lewis of Brisbane's Red Tape Pictures. Known for his striking and majestic videos for acts including The Church, Steve Kilbey, and Martin Kennedy's own All India Radio, Lewis creates a dramatic story reminiscent of astronaut Dave Paulson's time-warping journey in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Featuring otherworldly vistas, looming obelisks, hooded guitar shredding, and more, the video was premiered on Australia's own ABC and rage TV, bringing Kennedy's space doom opera to the masses. To quote rage TV, "Yoooo, the Nazgûl kinda shred?" Turns out they very much do, in space no less.

"A dark, epic trek through the cosmos... atmospheric, melodic, and full of menace and wonder"

ABOUT THE ALBUM:

Martin Kennedy of All India Radio fame brings us the cosmic doom epic "The Age of the Machine Entities", his new instrumental band Observers' debut album. Set to be released into the universe on March 4, 2024, "The Age of the Machine Entities" is a fusion of artistic brilliance that pays homage to the timeless mystery of "2001: A Space Odyssey.”

With decades of experience honing his craft in ambient rock outfit All India Radio, Kennedy pivots into the dark expanses of doom metal with Observers. His mastery of mood and atmosphere proves a natural fit, and across nine tracks the listener is treated to an instrumental reimagining of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clark's sci-fi epic.

"The Age of the Machine Entities" is exactly what it sets out to be - a dark, epic trek through the cosmos, conveyed through Kennedy's molding of doom metal into a sound that's atmospheric, melodic, and full of menace and wonder. But be warned, and prepare yourself for Observers to come aboard. Because without your space helmet, Dave? You're going to find that rather difficult.

IN THE BAND'S OWN WORDS:

"‘Into The Eye’ is the latest single from Observers' upcoming new album 'The Age of the Machine Entities'. The song title is named after a chapter in Arthur C Clarke's novelisation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Astronaut Dave Bowman looks into the eye aka the stargate and utters the iconic line 'my god, it's full of stars.'

The album itself is entirely instrumental and takes us on a cosmic journey through melodic metal, atmospheric riffs and psychedelic ambient sequences with echoes of Gojira, Black Sabbath and Tangerine Dream and the early 70’s work of Pink Floyd."

THE LOWDOWN

Observers - The Age of the Machine Entities

Out March 4, 2024 (Digital, CD, Vinyl)

Hobart, Australia

FFO: Bongripper, Clouds Taste Satanic, Pink Floyd

Observers is:

Martin Kennedy (All India Radio) - Guitars and soundscapes

Rich Gray (Annihilator) - Bass

Chris Bohm - Drums

Guest solos by Joe Haley (Psycroptic), Jake Weber, Ido Romano,  Joao Corceiro, and Breno Machado

Mixed by Joe Haley

Cover art by Ryan T Hancock

Tracklist:

1. Into The Eye (2:59)

2. Frank Poole's Dream (2:30)

3. Frozen Lattices of Light (3:27)

4. Strange and Beautiful (3:33)

5. Pod Bay Doors (2:01)

6. Moon Doom (3:24)

7. Metaphor II (11:38)

8. The Star Child (3:03)

9. The Narrow Way Part II (2:57)

Links:

observers.au
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook

BandCamp

Thanks to Good Boy PR for all of the details.

An Interview With New Zealand Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal Wrecking Crew - DEMONS OF NOON

New Zealand Doom/Sludge Metallers Demons Of Noon are releasing their debut album Death Machine on December 1st 2023 and it's a masterclass of modern day Doom/Sludge Metal with flashes of Psychedelic Stoner Metal and Cosmic based vibes.

Following a similar path to fellow KIWI metallers BEASTWARS but with a more gloomy OCCULT attitude, Demons Of Noon are going to make huge waves within the Doom/Sludge Metal scene when their debut album is released.

The band have just released their epic new song Crushing Sun from Death Machine which you can watch below.

I caught up with the Jonathan Burgess (Bass/Vocals) from the band to discuss their formation and the making of the new album which you can read below.

Hi there. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you all today?

Thanks for having us! Today is an exciting day — we’re releasing our next single ‘Crushing Sun’. I also just picked up tickets for Queens of the Stone Age and Mogwai, who are both making the long trip down to Aotearoa New Zealand next year.

For people not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today.

We’ve been making music together for a long time in many different guises. I work a lot as a sideman, and a few years ago the calls started drying up. Instead of letting that get me down, I took it as an opportunity. Playing heavy music is my favourite thing to do, and because I had been working on everyone else’s stuff, it was the thing I had been doing the least. Our drummer Joseph McElhinney had been over in London for a few years and was planning to return home. I called him from a tour van speeding through the Karangahake Gorge at sunrise, and Demons of Noon was born. We brought in guitarists Abraham Kunin and Scott Satterley and spent many glorious Sunday afternoons playing loud and slow in Whammy!, our local underground dive bar and spiritual home. After recording and releasing our debut EP The Summoning, vocalists Sophie Jackson and Aria Jones joined the band and took the sound to a new level. Sophie has since moved on to other things, and we’re now lucky to have Tamsyn Matchett in the band.

How would you describe your overall sound? As you combine complex melodies with ferocious heavy Doom/Sludge based sounds.

After watching one of our shows, Rene Black from Ambient Light described us as “absolutely crushing occult doom”, and she nailed it. Demons of Noon is like a big, warm ear massage. Monkish chants and ethereal harmonies float over punishing riffs. Since the early days, we’ve wanted to be ludicrously heavy, but also welcoming. I speak to a lot of people who are turned off metal by the aggressive vocal style. They’re missing out, quite frankly, so we draw in people who never knew they needed doom in their lives through a non-confrontational vocal style

We’re here to talk about your new album Death Machine. What can people expect from the album?

Death Machiie is a journey. From the quietly ominous opening strains of Echolalia to the twisted dark vocal interplay on Torched and Burned that ends the album, you’ll want to set aside some time to enjoy the trip in its entirety. Seared guitars anchor the six-part vocals with low and slow riffage, while spectral textures appear along the way, alongside nods to the influence of music that we love from the beauty of Mazzy Star to the caustic assault of black metal.

The album impressed the hell out of me with its unique style of Occult based themes and outlandish Sludge/Doom grooves and eerie Psychedelic textures. Demons Of Noon are very hard to pigeon hole and this album is a testament to that. Was that your original intention for this album to sound vastly different for your debut release.

Firstly, thanks for your kind words! They are much appreciated, and it sounds like you get what we’re going for. Like many debut releases, The Summoning EP was the sound of a band figuring out what it is, and we’ve come a long way since then — which is reflected in Death Machine. Our intention for this album was simple: make an album that we would want to listen to. At every point in the creative process, we’ve basically said “would I like to hear that?” If the answer was “yes”, then that’s what we did. We all push each other creatively, and that has expanded our art and opened broader possibilities for the music that we make.

Photo by Harry Skelton

Where did the name Death Machine for the album come from? Was it inspired by the classic 1994 movie of the same name? And why did you call the album that?

The name Death Machine is drawn from the lyrics of Sphere of Peace, a tale of a drunken military unit smashing through a jungle, hunting disfigured freaks. The death machine in this song is a big, abominable killing juggernaut. We haven’t seen that movie, but it looks great — thanks for the recommendation. There’s a few Brad Dourif fans in the band, so I’m surprised that we haven’t seen it yet. A lot of what is going on in this band is a reaction to modernity and following the advice of Max Cavalera in Soulfly to go back to the primitive — choosing Death Machine as a title reflects this.

Was this an easy or hard album to record for? Did your daily struggles, challenges and uplifting moments in life shape up the creative outline for the album?

This album took a long time to make. We’re all at a point in our lives where we have a lot of responsibilities — we have serious jobs, long-term relationships, and children. But we’ve all accepted the slow pace and getting together to work on music is a valuable release from the pressures and struggles of our lives. We’ve all been through personal challenges — alongside a global pandemic and cost-of-living crisis — and this is all reflected in the music. One of the things that I love the most about doom is that it’s a communal genre. Some of the most uplifting moments in my life are when we get to perform live and share that communion with the people in the crowd.

What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

The band would be nothing without all of us, and making our music is a communal effort. Scott and I bring in the riff and structure ideas and write the lyrics, and we all put them together into songs. Joe is a monster on the drums, Abe is a unique guitarist, and there’s no way any of the rest of us could sing like Tam and Aria. A big challenge in writing vocals to this music is that it it’s just so fucking loud. To get around this issue, we were inspired by the process the Beastie Boys used to create ‘Sabotage’. That song was recorded as an instrumental, and then Ad-Rock snuck into the studio one night and yelled his famous fictitious rant about how their producer was trying to sabotage them. A lot of the songs on this album were created this way. We spent a few days in the studio recording all the instruments live as a band, and then worked away to write and record vocals over them.

The vocals on the new album are bloody spectacular and I loved the different styles that each member brings to the table. As they can be quite ethereal and quiet one moment which then changes to a heavier vocal style. Was that a challenge for the band when recording the album to make sure that the right vocal arrangements were used for a specific song.

Thanks for your kind words again! We put a lot of time into the vocal arrangements, and we’re lucky to have a few members who are good at harmonies. The process of writing each song was very organic, and the right vocal arrangements naturally grew from our time together in the studio. The bigger challenge is performing all these vocal arrangements live!

You’re from Auckland, New Zealand. What is the local live scene there? Do you have a live scene to perform gigs on a regular basis or do you have to travel further afield?

Venues like Wine Cellar and Whammy! are almost single-handedly holding up the live scene in Auckland, and we’re deeply grateful for what they do. Leaning on a PA speaker and watching Conan at Whammy! changed my life. There are some great bands around the country, and there are a lot of places that we want to get to. You can check out the Weedian compilation ‘Trip to New Zealand’ to enjoy some of the bands drawing inspiration from our landscapes, isolation, and social issues to make heavy music. There’s a limit to what you can do in this genre here though, and we do want to head further afield and tour through Europe and America. Some of our local heroes and inspirations like Earth Tongue and Ulcerate are smashing it in those countries.

I noticed that Nathan Hickey from the mighty BEASTWARS is a huge admirer of your band and that’s perhaps the reason I checked the band out in the first place, and I agreed with his statement of being my favourite new heavy band from New Zealand. How well do you know BEASTWARS as they are perhaps the definitive Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal band from New Zealand? And have you performed on the same gigs and bills before.

Beastwars are legends, and we owe them a lot. After we released The Summoning EP, Nathan called us up and invited us to play our first gig at a sold-out Beastwars show in Wellington. He took a bit of a risk on this, and there’s some great photos floating around from that night where he is beaming ear to ear while watching our set — probably out of relief that we didn’t suck. Beastwars are an exceptional band, and Matt Hyde’s voice sounds like diesel and fire. They recently released another number one album in Aotearoa New Zealand, and I think they know how lucky they are to have reached that level of success in this country playing the style of music that they do. Because of this, Nathan constantly uses their platform to support up-and-coming bands like us, and we love him for it.

What future gigs have you coming up and will you be promoting the album more next year?

We’ve got a couple of gigs to celebrate the album release in Aotearoa New Zealand in December, and next year we want to go hard and build on the album release by playing a lot.

The artwork for the new album is sublime. Who designed the artwork and how much involvement did you have with the final design?

All our artwork is designed by Scott. He’s an incredibly talented visual artist and has a very clear vision for the visual aesthetic of the band. Scott is producing some very intricate artwork and that cover took him a long time. We’ve been working hard to design all the visual content for this release, so thanks, Scott! Because all the artwork originates from within the band, we have complete involvement in all the designs.

Your new album is being released by Evil Feast Records. How did you hook up with that label and what formats is the album being released upon?

Evil Feast Records is the label that we founded to release this album. We do everything ourselves. The album is being released on digital and a strictly limited run of vinyl, available from Bandcamp and select retailers.

What bands or artists influenced you to pick up an instrument and to become a musician? Do you have any side projects that folks can check out?

At high school, one of my teachers slipped me a copy of Blues for the Red Sun by Kyuss. I owe her a lot for this formative moment. We were all teenagers in the early 2000s and were heavily influenced by some of the heavy bands like the Deftones that were transcending genres at that time, alongside metal stalwarts like Pantera. We also draw a lot of inspiration from iconollastic heavy bands like Melvins, Bongripper and Boris. Some good side projects to check out are the ‘Old World’ album by Fortress Europe that I played on, the ‘Inner World’ album that Abraham made with the Dalai Lama, and the Hole-inspired band that Tamsyn leads: The Sour.

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your fans currently out there.

In our next single Bad Men, the words of Stoic philosopher Seneca surface in the coda — after two thousand years — to remind us that “We are bad men living among bad men, and only one thing can calm us — we must agree to go easy on one another.”

Words by Steve Howe and Jonathan Burgess

Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for arranging the interview and thanks to Jonathan for doing this interview.

Death Machine is released 1st December 2023 on Evil Feast Records. Pre-order Digital | Vinyl

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

UFOMAMMUT - Crookhead (EP Review)

Release Date: October 31st 2023. Record Label: Supernatural Cat Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl.

Crookhead - Tracklisting

Crookhead

Supernova

Vibrhate

Members

Poia – Guitars/FX

Urlo – Bass, Vocals, FX and Synths

Levre – Drums/FX

Review

Legendary Spaced Out Doomsters UFOMAMMUT return with Crookhead. A deliciously aggressive new EP which sees the band return with a slightly vicious sound that harks back to their EVE days. The EP offers three tracks running around nineteen minutes in length. UFOMAMMAUT play their classic style of down-tuned Space Rock driven Doom/Stoner Metal grooves that has a stunning Psychedelic Fuzz Rock backdrop if more distorted than ever which you can feel within the confinements of the opening title track.

Opening track Crookhead runs for nearly nine minutes with UFOMAMMUT spending the first couple minutes laying down the heavy Psychedelic and Sci-fi based instrumental groundwork before the robotic vocals appear and glitchy soundbytes allow the song to become a more powerful DOOM METAL entity with flashes of Occult based gloomy sounds appear. With this UFOMAMMUT, the progressive sludge elements are never too far behind with an eerie waves of Sonic Distortion and sludgy acoustic guitars shows a more creative flair from the band. The song is one of the strongest musical compositions the band have written in some time with how the musical uptempo changes into different flavours of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal.

Second track Supernova is what everything you would expect from UFOMAMMUT with this being a full-on Sonic Doom experience with the band once again delving head first into their earlier albums with perhaps a more modern flair heard on their critically acclaimed last album Fenice. There's more focus on experimentation with the vocals with Psychedelic Sludge grooves being more powerful despite the "LESS IS MORE" approach with their delivery for this song alone. Flashes of Post-Doom and Post-Metal sonic trickery work amazingly well with this being my favourite track on the album. The underbelly of Industrial Rock/Metal can be heard in certain places with UFOMAMMUT experimenting with different styles of Sci-fi based Ambient Metal with a thrilling blast of intense instrumental grooves and ambient beats.

The final song Vibrhate is the more experimental based track on the EP with long extended moments of Distorted Drone and pummelling Sludge Metal sounds. This track has the standout vocals on the EP which is also perhaps one of the most intense vocals from the band for a very long time. The Ambient/Psychedelic parts of the track are amazingly deep and intense with the different levels of down-tuned Sludge, Stoner and Doom Metal grooves that accompany this Sonic based journey.

Crookhead despite its short running time is another standout release from UFOMAMMUT who have gone from strength to strength over the last few releases. With first rate production values which is what you would expect from the masters and perhaps true innovators of the Cosmic Doom/Stoner Metal scene, Crookhead is a must-have release to add to your UFOMMAMMUT collection and perhaps one of the best EP's released this year. 

I'm hoping there's a new full length album from the band. As Crookhead shows an exciting brief glimpse on what to expect from UFOMAMMUT in the future.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to All Noir PR for the promo. 

Crookhead will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl via Supernatural Cat Records from October 31st 2023.

Links

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