ACID MAMMOTH ~ SUPERSONIC MEGAFAUNA COLLISION .... review

Acid Mammoth, Chris Babalis Jr (vocals/guitars); Chris Babalis Sr. (guitars); Dimosthenis Varikos (bass) and Marios Louvaris (drums) have risen from promising new kids on the block to being one of those bands whose albums are pre-ordered well in advance of their release date but it has not been an overnight thing, they have worked hard to get where they are today. The band was formed by schoolfriends Babalis Jr. and Varikos and were soon joined by Babalis Jr's father Babalis Sr. and Louvaris, the band then set about honing their chops on their local scene before going on to fund and self-release their first album "Acid Mammoth". After garnering positive reactions from all the right quarters with their debut they then signed to Heavy Psych Sounds Records who along with releasing their next albums "Under Acid Hoof" and "Caravan" also paired them with heavy Italian doomsters 1782 for "Vol.2" of their "Doom Sessions" series while also re-releasing their debut album. The band have since toured Europe and have also graced the stages of Desertfest (London & Antwerp) as well as SonicBlast and are now releasing, again via Heavy Psych Sounds Records, their latest album "Supersonic Megafauna Collision", an album packed to the rafters with all the quality doom and hard rock we have come to expect from these guys plus a few unexpected twists and turns.

It is the track that gives the album its title that opens proceedings, "Supersonic Megafauna Collision" is typical Acid Mammoth fare, thick heavy dual guitar riffs, low grumbling bass lines and powerful drumming supporting clean slightly witchy but wholly effective vocals, a song that does not try to hide its Sabbathian roots but neither tries to push those roots to the fore. It is followed by "Fuzzorgasm (Keep On Screaming)" its thundering, just a notch above sedate, psych-doom groove holding sway up until just around the halfway mark when Babalis Jr's distinctive vocals join the party to tell a tale of fire and desire. Acid Mammoth show us a whole new side to their doom on the excellent "Garden of Bones", the song boasting an off-piste sinister element made even more menacing by its off-centred guitar tones and  oddly paced "witchy" vocal melodies. "Atomic Shaman" is up next, the off-centred eeriness of the previous track jettisoned for a more up-tempo proto-doomic attack beneath which Louvaris delivers some of the albums most impressive drumming. It's back to the weirdness for penultimate number "One With The Void", the songs spacious sounding guitar tones and restrained percussion framing a low key vocal that is almost mantra like in its delivery, Desert Psychlist guesses you could describe this song as having a dark lysergic spiritual vibe. Final song "Tusko's Last Trip" twins exotic off-kilter guitar motifs with forays into proto-doomic bluster, Babalis Jr's unique vocals the only constant in a song that seems to be routinely pulled back from the edge of all out heaviness but is so much more satisfying because of that restraint.  

Acid Mammoth's "Supersonic Megafauna Collision" sees the band moving slightly away from Sabbathian flavoured doom of their early albums and dipping their toes into a more psych orientated form of the genre, still riff heavy still just as enjoyable but just a little more textured and colourful. 

Check it out ....  

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