Artist: Acid Mammoth
Album: Caravan
Genre: Doom Metal
Country: Greece
Release date: 05. March 2021
Released via: Heavy Psych Sounds Record
One year ago, before Roman published his review of Under Acid Hoof on this blog, he wrote me that I should listen to this album and that I could like it. After one round with the album, I was flashed how good it was. Under Acid Hoof was one of my most-listened albums of 2020 and deserved a place on my 2020 Top 10 Albums. Now, it’s my turn to write a review about a new Acid Mammoth album: Caravan, which will be released on the 5th of March.
The album starts with the pre-release single “Berserker” and a lot of pressure on your ears. It perfectly sets the sound of the upcoming five songs. Hard bass playing covered with beautiful riffs, a mixture of Doom and Stoner Rock. The playstyle, despite its depth, seems light on the hand and never monotonous – a perfect starting song. The next track “Psychedelic Wasteland” begins with a long intro, deeper sounds and even more stomping than the first track. The riffs are overall more sustained. The song withdraws from his predecessor, but you hear an idea of sound which will accompany you till the end of this album.
With “Ivory Towers”, the band shows us that they not only know how to play long Doom riffs, but can also play faster versions of these without losing the characteristics. The drums show their intensity most clearly here and they are clearly in the foreground without only being an accompaniment to the riffs. A little confusing is the song “Caravan”, which is the most playful when comparing to the other songs. A lot of aspects take place parallel yet without any common motive or line. I was surprised by this song – it is the most exotic track on this album. The last song “Black Dust” is the fastest, the vocals are most strongly sung. It sounds more coordinated than “Caravan” and is a good finisher.
There is plenty of minor criticisim I have about this album. The combination of song length and the style of this kind of music makes it seem repetitive in some places. The lyrics and singing could be more and better, because the voice of Chris Babalis Jr. is awesome and fits perfectly for their playstyle and it is a pity that this quality isn’t used any better. And the last point, overall, is that the album is a little too long to be an integrated whole. But there are plenty of big positive points as well about Caravan. The sound is awesome, the playstyle stomps over your ears and lets your head nod and put a smile on your face. The Ozzy-esque voice is maybe one of the most interesting voices of the last years in my opinion. The overall quality of this band is outstanding, and I have a feeling that they are yet capable of a lot more than this.
The album was just released and I am still curious about what future songs will be like. Acid Mammoth is one of the bands I truly want to see live sometime. Another reason why we should kick Corona in its arse.
9/10
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