MAMMOTH

Mammoth is the 6th album by Swedish band Beardfish. I have followed this band since their 2008 album "Sleeping in Traffic: Part II", and I have always liked them a great deal. But I think that with Mammoth Beardfish have reached a new high point - this is close to perfection, as far as I am concerned. Yes, the music is heavier than in previous albums - there is plenty of heavy guitar riffing here and the singing too has become edgier and more powerful (to the point of even including some growling on "And the Stone Said ..." courtesy of guest singer Jimmy Joensson). But this works incredibly well - some of the guitar riffs are simply mesmerizing (check out the guitar parts on the opener "The Platform", for example), and Rikard Sjoeblom proves that he can be a hell of a hard-rock singer if he wishes so. Moreover, albeit heavier, the music is still extremely melodic and tasteful, in traditional Beardfish style. Another pleasant surprise for me is that on Mammoth Beardfish seem to have learned to control their tendency to use a sort of 'everything-but-the-kitchen-sink' approach to music. In previous albums these four guys sometimes seemed to just throw into their songs everything that passed through their mind, saloon music and cabaret moments included. I've always found this slightly distracting. The approach used on Mammoth is instead much more focused and contained, which works to their advantage in my opinion.

It's hard to pick a highlight here - all 7 songs on Mammoth are top-notch quality and there is no weak moment on the whole album. My personal favourites are probably the wonderfully complex "And the Stone Said ...", the mellower "Tightrope" and the instrumental "Akakabotu", with its wonderful keyboard work and the excellent sax solos provided by guest musician Johan Holm.

Highly recommended!

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