Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn – Album Review
Somehow, one of the most exciting doom bands on the planet just made themselves even more alluring!
Interstellar Welsh doom wizards Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard have returned to earthly plains with third album Yn Ol I Annwn in tow. Featuring the expected sloth-like, lumbering doom riffs, swirling synths and layer-adding intergalactic noise, the difference – this time – is that their sound has crystallised into something even more celestial than previously encountered!
So, what are we dealing with exactly?
We have 80’s-aping electronica (think the Stranger Things soundtrack if it was composed by John Carpenter), meeting Hawkwind-esque space rock and traditional doom head-on.
We have plenty of avant-garde moments for us weirdos to chew on.
We have no end of classic sci-fi soundtrack influences to provide a stirring backdrop.
We have elements of folk, sludge and shoegaze jostling for your attention.
And, when it comes down to the crunch, we have a (semi-disguised) doom album that’s as densely heavy as the deepest, darkest, black hole.
“The Majestic Clockwork” chugs while cello’s stab, “Fata Morgana” disguises itself as folk-whimsy – but with a nightmarish edge – before sludge riffs brings it to its overwhelming conclusion while “‘The Spaceships Of Ezekiel’ manages to successfully merge experimental metal with 70’s moog licks and traditional doom riffs to create 8 minutes of utter perfection.
When they’re doomy, they’re as weighty as earth’s gravitational pull. When they’re ethereal, they’ll take you to the heavens. When they’re reaching for the stars, they’re truly seperated from the restrictions of earth; ever-searching for other-wordly sounds. They are, quite simply, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and there ain’t anyone else quite like ’em!
We once suggested MWWB “were the finest new doom band on the planet” and we feel that statement has now been 100% vindicated. Somehow, one of the most exciting doom bands on the planet just made themselves even more alluring! 9/10
Yn Ol I Annwn is set to land on March 1st 2019 and will be available on CD/DL and limited edition double vinyl. We suggest you look to the skies and await its arrival!
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