This has been my first encounter with Italy's UFOMAMMUT and I am lost for words. How do you describe a thing as this? Stoner-dub-rock? Ambient doom metal psychedelia? GODFLESH jammin' with HAWKWIND? That's not even close. I can only say that I have seldom encountered a band with such an appropriate name. Their music is enormously heavy, yet not of this world. MONSTER MAGNET sound like THE MONKEES compared to these guys, seriously.

The majority of the album consists of long slow-to-mid-tempo grooves (I wouldn't call them 'songs') that combine thick and greasy stoner riffs with weird noises, movie samples and the occasional shrieking vocal. On the 6th track "Alcool" the massive riffage makes way for a kind of weird, ambient noise thing. That's only a mild precursor for the 8th and final track, the totally twisted half-hour epic "Demontain". If this were a soundtrack to a movie (and it sure does sound like one) I didn't know if I would dare to watch it. The rockin' parts are intersped with long, drawn-out ambient drone bits. Listening to this the term 'stonerrock' (which I never particularly cared for...the term that is, I love the music) suddenly makes a whole lot of sense. As you may have guessed by now this is not recommended for people into traditional forms of hard rock & metal. This is for folks who like their music trippy (and then some!)

If this is how spaghetti-stoner/doom in general sounds we'll have to watch those Italians from now on, because this album impressed the hell out of me. Within the genre and its limitations UFOMAMMUT have managed to come up with something original. Nice job, guys!

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.ufomammut.com

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