Mammoth Volume – Raised Up By Witches
Mammoth Volume is from Lysekil, Sweden and formed in 1996. The current lineup is: Kalle Berlin on bass, Nicklas Andersson on drums, Daniel Gustafsson on guitar and Jörgen Andersson on vocals. The band’s past releases include: 1999’s Self Titled, 2000’s Noara Dance EP, 2001’s A Single Book Of Songs, 2002’s The Early Years, and 2022’s The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites. They also released a couple of other EPs, 2005’s Return Of The Mammoth Volume, and 2008’s Loved By Few, Hated By Dolphins. Mammoth Volume are a progressive stoner rock band with metal and prog rock elements mixed in. Their latest album Raised Up By Witches was released on August 23rd, 2024. It’s their second record on Blues Funeral Recordings, following their comeback album, 2022’s The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites. Raised Up By Witches contains 9 songs and is 45 minutes long.
I first discovered Mammoth Volume in the early 2000’s when I received The Early Years as a freebie from All That’s Heavy distribution. I immediately liked the album and band and bought all of their other recordings at the time. Each album sounded different and their sound was very progressive compared to other stoner rock bands from that time. Mammoth Volume had the typical characteristics of desert/fuzz rock bands but also a uniqueness about them. This was especially noticeable on their masterpiece record, A Single Book Of Songs. Unfortunately, the band faded out before 2010 and they went dormant for over a decade. I was very happy when they returned two years ago and signed with Blues Funeral and released The Cursed…
Raised Up By Witches is a bizarre album upon initial listens. The weirdness that is instilled on some of these songs, at first, threw me off. The first single released was “Serpent In The Deep”, which came out in July. I wasn’t sure what to think at first with the bizarre angle that the song captures. I didn’t want to judge Mammoth Volume prematurely or too harshly with this track, so I decided to wait for the whole album to be released.
The first song on Raised Up By Witches is called “The Battle Of Lightwedge”. It’s a cool tune that starts mellow and builds up nicely throughout. Mammoth Volume has a diverse approach to song crafting which utilize all types of different sounds and styles, sometimes all within the same song. “The Battle Of Lightwedge” sounds pretty standard for what the band does and the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me. “Black Horse Beach” has a clean guitar jamming vibe about it. Jörgen Andersson has a very good voice and displays all kinds of interesting vocal nuances on this recording. The off kilter beats and rhythms allow him to take his vocal range anywhere. There are some synth sounds layered in the background of this song and futuristic progy-ness at the end too.
The next song “Scissor Bliss” is one of my favorites on the album. It starts with a prominent bass rhythm with the drums and varied clean and acoustic guitars. Andersson sings the verses with a low tonal delivery, almost spoken, and higher on the “chorus” part. The music has some syncopated beats and rhythms to it on these verses. It then kicks into a rocking distorted groove with added layers of background keys and weird sounds, and then the music abruptly shifts to acoustic guitar, hand percussion and vocals. Mammoth Volume are the kings of dynamics! Just as you get used to the mellow sounds, they crank back to a hammering distorted riff with an elegant transition. They propel you back to a soft closure with flutes and rimshots and clean guitars, until they all fade out. The band walks on the tight rope of brilliance and bizarre. This track keeps me engaged throughout. The fourth song is the most straightforward on the record, entitled “Diablo III: Faces In The Water.” The music and vocals all start together in a heavy rocking song. Nicklas Andersson displays some excellent drum fills on this one and the guitars sound crunchy and metallic. It’s another favorite track of mine that is right to the point with good guitar leads. It’s reminiscent of what I liked about Mammoth Volume from the past.
The next song “Lisa” is on the strange side. There is a lot going on in this song, musically speaking. I hear all kinds of orchestrated elements, keyboards, horns, and tambourines too. The vocals are kind of odd also which enhances the weirdness. I have to admit though that it somehow works in the context of the whole record. The band place “Serpents Of The Deep” right after it and it feels fitting. The song starts with Andersson’s vocals and synthesizers together and start stop guitar twangs throughout. The song could be characterized as the title track with the “raised up by witches” lyrics placed throughout the composition.
“Cult Of Enerra” gets the band back on more normal sounds, at least for the time being, with progressive riffing, reminding me of the picking style of the epic “Mastodont” from the Truckfighters. Mammoth Volume continues to dazzle back and forth and all over the musical spectrum with this song. Intricate guitar rhythms, varied keyboards with transcending vocal arrangements, this song and “A Tale About A Photon” will take you on a trip. Mammoth Volume return to form with these songs while still swimming in delirium. The almost off beat nature of their song crafting has one feeling like they’re on psychedelics. The closing song “Sangen Om Ymer” elicits more weirdness and odd ball soundscapes to ultimately make you lose your mind. The song is also sung in their Swedish native language, which enhances the bizarre. The second half of the tune totally changes directions and leaves you wondering what the heck just happened.
Overall, I am completely intrigued with Raised Up By Witches. I have to admit that the more I listen to the album, the more I appreciate it. Mammoth Volume has never played it safe in their songwriting and I respect that. Music is meant to explore different feelings and emotions and take the listener on a journey. This record will definitely do that. It might be too much for some people to handle and understand, but in its strangeness also lies its brilliance.
https://mammothvolume.bandcamp.com
