Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard/Slomatics – Totems


I love splits and this one is certainly worthy of my affections. It’s brought to us by Black Bow Records, which is run by one of the fine gentlemen from the band Conan, so if you like your music loud, heavy, slow, and crushing, this release has you covered all the way around. This split is a little unique, in that it is more of a collaboration between the bands. They worked on the overall themes of the album together and there is a little more cohesiveness between what the bands have on offer here than there usually is with splits. In my mind, that’s even more reason why you should check it out.

I love Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (hereafter known as MWWB), and it puzzles me a bit why they are not bigger in the heavy music scene. Perhaps some people are put off a bit by the name, which is taking the piss a little when it comes to other bands in this genre. They describe themselves as “3 ape descendents and an astral seraphim combining their powers to generate colossal interstellar arias of plutonium weight.” It seems a pretty apt description and if it sounds good to you, don’t read any farther, just go find their music. Oh, and they are from Wales if that matters to anyone.

MWWB contribute two songs to this split. The first, “The Master and His Emissary”, starts out with a couple of minutes of synth work that could have come from a John Carpenter soundtrack. Then the heavy drops and I promise you that mushroom clouds will come out of your speakers when it happens. At least it did with mine. Just crushing riffs that repeat paired up with ethereal vocals, and then they change it up a bit and hammer the listener some more. The second track is “Eagduru” and delivers more of the same. Of course, it's not the same track or there wouldn’t be any need to give it a different name, but you get the idea. Slow, heavy, repetitive, wonderful.

Slomatics hail from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and it is easy to see how they were paired with MWWB on this split. To my ears, these guys deal in more fuzz, and there’s about as much here as on a teenaged sasquatch’s face. I was not familiar with this band prior to this split, but I am certainly happy to make their acquaintance. The things they do musically are right up my alley and I will definitely seek out more of their releases.

These guys mix it up a little bit on their side of the split. Their songs are shorter, so they get 3 tracks. The first is “Ancient Architects”, and it fits very well into the theme of slow and heavy music playing. Their second track, though, is the eye opener for me. “Silver Ships Into The Future” is a quieter, piano driven piece that shows that riffs can be played on an acoustic instrument as well. While it doesn’t have enough of a melody to say that it’s a pretty bit of music, it is a very nice change up. Which makes their final track, “Master’s Descent”, hit that much harder when it blows through your speakers like a rhinoceros in heat.

If you dig the slow, heavy type of music, this release is definitely for you. There is nothing new or groundbreaking here, but it doesn’t have be a game changer to be a good album. This one will definitely hit your happy spot.

-ODIN



Comments

Why no cd release of this Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard/Slomatics release?????