Dosed at a heroic level for the sake of inducing musth and attacking their sound with a cumulative enthusiasm for the ground covered thus far Athens, Greece-based stoner doom metal quartet ACID MAMMOTH return for an invigorated fourth full-length album. Counteracting the gloom-stricken dirge of their previous LP ‘Supersonic Megafauna Collision‘ is entirely focused on bounding through the bulk of its action up front in uniform stride for around ~seventy percent of this heavier, more tunefully applied release. In the process of riding out they’ve buried some of the nuance gained for the sake of a big, show-worthy set of songs all of which do well to communicate the broader strokes of their ethos and entertain throughout.

Acid Mammoth formed circa 2015 by way of vocalist/guitarist Chris Babalis Jr. and bassist Dimosthenis Varikos and soon expanded to a quartet as they worked directly toward a self-released debut full-length album (‘Acid Mammoth‘, 2017) which’d gotten the band some attention at that point but I figure it was their 2019 recorded and likely shopped around sophomore LP ‘Under Acid Hoof‘ that’d gotten them signed to Heavy Psych Sounds for a pre-pandemic 2020 release. From my point of view you couldn’t have missed that record as it’d released at the end of January that year (hitting #20 on my Top 20 of the Month) as their high-impact visuals and blunt but tuneful stoner-doom metal sound hit right off the bat, it was a clear standout in the realm. There was of course a giant leap made then and there in terms of production values wherein the distant, haze-ridden guitar hex of the first album was suddenly given to a booming high-fidelity recording on the second. Some exponential growth had likewise occurred in terms of songcraft, primarily the neatly woven arrangements and general dynamic of the band’s summoning circle.

At that point the band’s work was a pleasure, an easily grasped and oft repetitive vision of fuzzed-up and tuneful stoner metal with a vocal style folks who’re still fans of ‘Opus Eponymous‘-era Ghost‘s more distant register will appreciate. Nothing had changed so drastically when the direct follow-up to ‘Under Acid Hoof‘ released as ‘Caravan‘ (2021), the vocals were a bit more remiss and less separation of the bass guitar tone, which was distorted and soaked into the guitar levels, but the initial reaction from fans seemed to be diminishing returns. In fact going back and spinning that record today it was more a matter of mood and the intent to convey their downtrodden, fatigued pandemic-levelled psyche that’d severely changed the vibe but this shouldn’t have bothered the average Electric Wizard fan as both the sound design and the mournful spirit was there, even if the 70’s occult rock camp wasn’t. From my point of view that third album kinda grew a soul and found some of its more nuanced, serious tonal shape to date. The precedence we are building up to here is where the band’ve gone with album number four since they’ve put out three very different records thus far all of which’ve conveyed something different beyond the first.

One pandemic and a couple of European tours later ‘Supersonic Megafauna Collison‘ should more-or-less be received as an easier-going step back into the stampede level ride of Acid Mammoth‘s second album in terms of production values (the bass guitar tone is still a bit withdrawn for my taste, eh) but they’ve not lost the melodic sense gained in the interim. This particularly applies to the register of vocalist/guitarist Chris Babalis Jr. who brings riff-aligned cadence to each piece as expected but appears to adapt some of his tonal reach to the subject of each song whether it is fantastical or serious-faced. This’ll be a more important note once we’re further down the rabbit hole since they’ve suggested every song is one further step into darker territory. If I can lead with the bigger point, and generally the point of sale for each of the band’s albums, is that not only do these folks get the excessive mean-assed riff side of stoner/doom metallic excess here but they’re writing heavy rock songs which aren’t hindered by the usual shortcuts and oversimplification which plagues entry-level stoner music travelers. Sure, it all feels great even at its gloomiest low but there is some extra pleasure to be dug up per the exacting-but-simple enough tunefulness of this record.

You couldn’t miss the charm of Acid Mammoth‘s presentation here as we get a couple of earfuls of trample damage from drummer Marios Louvaris‘ intro per opener/title track “Supersonic Megafauna Collison” as the hypnosis of the riff follows slow and Babalis Jr.‘s suggested cadence seats itself upon the heavier hits of the groove presented, a pristine post-millennial psychedelic doom metal tech sure which only adds to the tension beneath the heft of the riff in question. A couple of bluesy leads and a chorus or two later and we’ve not moved from our vantage point in front of the monolith presented as this relatively easy roll into the album sets precedent for the uncomplicated, perhaps deceptively simple appeal of these folk’s approach. “Garden of Bones” steps outside of the circle’s hypnosis with more than a couple of riffs explored as the album’s four song salvo of ~6 minute doom metal songs shows no sign of slowing. The tact of the album arrives on this song by my observation alongside some of its better lead guitar work but Side A is almost entirely a big thumping easy-riding buzz through to start.

Kill, kill, kill, kill them all. — As we step into Side B and “Atomic Shaman” greets us with a call for slaughter we’ve not hit the reset button with parity to the opener of the first side and instead Acid Mammoth continue the thread, pick up on the downcast ritual-enjoyer riff cutting action of “Garden of Bones” as an extension of scene. The Sabbath groove is inordinate, mind-flaying at this point and if nothing else this’ll be a steeling exaggeration of ‘Master of Reality‘ level sling for folks prone to fixate on the riff. From my point of view this’d been the point where the lessons learned on ‘Caravan‘ were most obvious as the harmonic depth of the bass and rhythm guitar interplay hits its richest point of interest even if braced by a very obvious classicism, one which the drummer happily leans into as the song reaches its jammed-at peaking end. The motif then carries through to the huddled around the fire desert rock set piece “One With the Void”, a shorter song which stomps the distortion pedals off and finally shakes things up a bit as signal of the album breaking for its finale the ~12 minute closer “Tusko’s Last Stand”. Much as I’d appreciated the additional keyboards and the overall progression of this endpoint it was typically where the reach of the full listen found its overstated limit and might’ve just as well been cinched up to half its length for the sake of the listening experience.

What hasn’t changed since my introduction to Acid Mammoth‘s wares back in 2020 is their music is yet a pleasure to listen to thanks to big n’ bold sound design, somewhat above-average vocal arrangement, and a clear stoner/doom specific niche inhabited… all of which is familiar but generally different enough from album to album that ‘Supersonic Megafauna Collision‘ doesn’t feel entirely redundant with consideration for their discography. This time around they’ve taken what I’d consider a dark but not po-faced approach which is appropriately laid back but at times not heavy enough on the riffs, or, the elemental patternation that I tend to seek out in terms of doom metal in general. It’ll fit the right mood just fine but in my case my enjoyment of this fourth LP from the band was conditional rather than all-encompassing. A moderately high recommendation.

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