Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn

New Heavy Sounds

Hey kids, let’s talk about nominative determinism! You know, that thing where someone’s name informs what they do, like having a dentist called Dr Tooth or a Tory councillor called Mr Gaping-Anus. It’s fun! Thing is, it tends to work the other way round with bands, because traditionally they actually CHOOSE their names rather than being christened at birth. Otherwise Anal Cunt could have ended up as a lounge jazz outfit. And usually you can get some kind of hint as to what the band will sound like from what they’re called.

Step forward, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, and receive the prize for best-named band of the day. And they don’t disappoint. And you can guess what they sound like, right? Well… kinda. Yes, they’re heavy. And yes, they’re definitely smoking music. But their latest album, Yn Ol Y Annwn has a lot more skins to its spliff than just Sabbath and Hawkwind. Although the ghosts of both are definitely rocking out at the feast.

As the title would suggest (it’s Welsh for Return To The Underworld), Yn Ol Y Annwn is a journey. A journey into space, a journey underground, a journey into pasts both musical and mystical, and a journey into your own head. “The Spaceships Of Ezekiel”, for example, comes on like a heavier Blood Ceremony, if Blood Ceremony had been out partying with Jesu. Which is kind of what you’d expect, but then “Du Bist Jetzt Nicht In Der Zukunft” confounds those expectations with its cello and electronics that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Legendary Pink Dots album. But if you were missing the riffs, the title track brings them back in (Ace Of) spades.

The ethereality of the vocals adds a whole new layer of complexity to the idea of stoner metal, which has traditionally been something of a sausagefest. Imagine if Leaves’ Eyes were super-heavy… this still sounds better. Melodic stoner metal for the over-medicated. Basically there’s as much weed and wizard as there is mammoth and bastard. Which is a lot of all four, really.

So basically we’re back to the reverse nominative determinism thing, aren’t we? Essentially, if you think you’d like a band called Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, then you probably will. Especially if you’re willing to let them take you places you wouldn’t necessarily expect. In an early contender for “best clichéd use of the phrase ‘early contender’”, I’ll call this an early contender for my favourite album of the year. Leastways, I’ll be fucking surprised if it doesn’t make the top five. That new Swans album is gonna have its work cut out for it, that’s for sure.

-Justin Farrington-