Review: Mammoth Volume ‘Raised Up By Witches’
Sweden’s Mammoth Volume will forever induce flashbacks to the late ‘90s for me. When I was first getting into stoner rock, the old stoner rock.com site, and its online store, All That’s Heavy were invaluable to me when hunting for new bands within the genre. Usually, there would be an MP3 to stream, but a lot of times I ordered music based on descriptions and reviews on the old message board, and with that, I bought Mammoth Volume’s 1999 self-titled debut and quickly became hooked on their heavy, spacey, and melodic sound.
In fact, I still remember driving from Seattle to Vancouver BC and blasting Horizon off the debut at absolute window-rattling full-blast, while the scenery of the great Pacific Northwest blew by. The band quickly evolved, adding quirky elements of jazz, prog, and ‘70s soft rock into the mix, heard right away on 2000s Noara Dance, with the prog-jazz turned riff-fuzz fest on Larrivée. Mammoth Volume continued exploring sounds through their 2001 release A Single Book Of Songs, before going on hiatus with only sporadic, self-released music appearing occasionally in the ensuing years.
When the band got back together and returned in 2022 with The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites, I was excited to hear what this band, who had such an impact on my early stoner rock tastes, had evolved into. Like most people describing the record, I thought the music had lots of weird passages, with lots of cool moments, but honestly, it felt like a natural evolution, who, despite being one of the front runners for the first wave of European stoner rock, were never content to endlessly bash away at Black Sabbath and The Stooges riffs. Mammoth Volume were always about exploring new sounds all while incorporating jazz and prog into their riff-y stew.
Their latest, Raised Up By Witches, feels like a quick turn-around, especially in the context of their hiatus and sees the band continuing their restless, musical exploration. Opening with The Battle Of Lightwedge, a fuzzy, slow-build wherein Jörgen Andersson’s unmistakable vocals are instantly welcoming, like hearing from an old friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time. I’ve always said he possessed one of the best voices, not just in Swedish stoner rock, but in the genre as a whole. The track, while possessing some of the band’s unique elements, is a fairly straight-ahead rocker, especially for contemporary Mammoth Volume, as the band put on vivid display their mastery of the riffing groove.
the band put on vivid display their mastery of the riffing groove…
However, lest fans of their more eclectic sounds be worried, Black Horse Beach is an airy, prog-y, ‘70s soft-rock call back with all sorts of twists and turns, melodic passages, guitar and synth noodling, and interesting rhythms. Scissor Bliss, while not only having a fantastic name, boasts an addicting, head-nodding bass line as well as some cool acoustic guitar stylings, before erupting into a rock attack, complete with a soaring chorus. Diablo III Faces In The Water is a straight-forward, driving riff-rocker, catchy and to the point.
Mammoth Volume’s weirdness and prog-y spaciness returns on Lisa, an eclectic, folksy, organ infused number, whereas Serpent In The Deep, while serving as the de facto title track, is also a funky, synth-infused, weirdo, ‘70s prog-rock space-case that features all sorts of starts and stops, bizarre instrumentation choices and an epic soaring chorus. Cult Of Eneera, while mostly a driving rocker, also sees them playing to their ‘70s prog sensibilities and keeping the listener on their toes with off-kilter rhythmic changes, interesting note choices, and vocal dynamism.
The penultimate A Tale About A Photon, sounds like what you would expect from modern Mammoth Volume with a song title like that featuring plenty of cool guitar work, melodic vocals and the usual rhythmic surprises. Closer Sången Om Ymer might as well have been sent back in time from a lost Can or Yes session as it’s a bouncy, trippy, prog-rock song, filled with lyrics that, I’m guessing, are sung in Swedish, adding to the overall strangeness, which of course is one of the cornerstones of the band’s sonic wheelhouse.
I enjoyed Raised Up By Witches quite a bit, even if I’m admittedly not necessarily the biggest fan of experimental, weirdo prog. However, it’s really cool seeing Mammoth Volume’s evolution as well as continuing to witness their seemingly, bottomless well of musical creativity as they have always held a special place in my music collection. Certainly, a cool release by these Swedish stoner rock forefathers that deserves to be heard.
Label: Blues Funeral Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
