ALBUM REVIEW: Ufomammut - "8"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 22/09/2017

Label: Supernatural Cat |

 Neurot Recordings

The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

“8” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Babel
2. Warsheep
3. Zodiac
4. Fatum
5. Prismaze
6. Core
7. Wombdemonium
8. Psyrcle

The Review:

This time out, Ufomammut just let it flow. Where “Eve” and “Oro” focused on a huge sound and concept, the follow up “Ecate” tried to bring things back to something resembling normalcy. It failed, which in the case of “Ecate” was fantastic, because Ufomammut still own that crushing tone they’ve trademarked.

With the release of “8,” Ufomammut have tried once again to bring things back home. This new record focuses on the strength of individual songs. Sure, some of these tracks are produced in such a way that they feed into each other, but this is the first time since about 2010’s “Eve,” that any single song can be plucked from the album’s playlist as a standalone specimen of what Ufomammut is.

So what is Ufomammut? Well, if it’s chaotic, strobe like synths you’re looking for while a thick, aggressive riff bears down at you, look no further than “Core.” If what you’re looking for is a strangely timed, crunchy riff that hints at being catchy, then “Fatum” is a good place to ignite the rockets. “Warsheep” and “Zodiac” provide the rolling march that Ufomammut has gotten so damn good at, so tune into these two cuts if that’s what whets your whistle.

Don’t be fooled, this song-based Ufomammutis not any sort of light version of the band. They’re not phoning it in, they’re displaying a different approach to their brand of heavy, one that they’ve spent years mastering. The time signatures will still have you scratching your head and the chugging rhythms are no less heady as they are pummeling. The choice to structure songs rather than to orchestrate them means that the ideas unfold quicker than what we’re used to. A totally different listening experience, sure, but it’s one that offers yet another opportunity to throw some quality, heavy psychedelic doom on the turntable.

“8” is available here (Europe) & here (USA)

Band info: bandcamp || facebook