MAMMOTH

Beardfish are a Swedish band (how prolific is that country) which have been on the prog map sine the last decade, and have received great criticism, particularly for their last three albums. However, my dear reader I must confess that this is my first experience with this band, and now I can say I was too slow, and I missed valuable time.

'Mammoth' is the name of this (2011) album and the guilty of making me explore deeper in their past repertoire, because they are a great band, believe me. This album consists on seven songs and a total time of 52 minutes of high quality progressive rock. The first track is 'The platform', an eight-minute song full of exquisite elements that create powerful music in the prog rock vein of course, do not confuse power with metal, it is far from being the same. I like the vocals, the guitars and the keyboard work on this track, all of them compose several notes and images at the same time, so the listener can be pleased.

'And the Stone said' is a fifteen-minute epic that will remain in the listeners' mind even when the album has finished, because it is a complete song that has a lot to offer. The instrumental passages are frequently my favorite ones in anyone's music, and here it is not the exception, the first minutes are pure beauty to my ears, I simply love the sound of keyboards all over the track, and how they combine their sound with the guitars and bass later. Before the third minute the rhythm changes and a new structure is being built little by little. The music almost stops at 4:30 and vocals enter, the sound now is soft and gently and it follows the same line for some minutes.

The part that starts at minute nine is pretty cool, is sounds like a new track actually with several inner mutations that make the song even more interesting. There is a moment where the bass sounds stronger and creates cool sensations, also the vocals changes a little bit and all together create an interesting sound that may please the strictest prog fan. The last two minutes are also killer, neat sound with a saxophone that reminds me a bit to VdGG. Awesome track!

After that tremendous boost of sound, we have reached the third track entitled 'Tightrope' which is a much calmer song with delicate notes, words and noises. The first minute is charming but later the song becomes a bit tense until making a short explosion, which will only take you back to a softer sound. In the last minute there is a nice but short guitar riff, accompanied by catchy vocals.

'Green Waves' has an addictive string sound that is complemented by drums and powerful vocals that create some kind of heavy prog sound. The rhythm is practically the same all time, there are not many changes as in previous tracks, however it is still a great track. I particularly enjoy the guitar work on this piece, especially in the last minutes when it makes its fantastic riffs. The next track is the shortest one, 'Outside/Inside' that lasts less than two minutes and it is like a film intermission with a cute piano sound.

'Akakabotu' is an amazing piece whose keyboards remind me to some Santana tracks. I love the saxophone sound in this track, it adds a different flavor and it is better when it sound at the same time that the keyboards, both of them create a strong sound that I love. The bass is also fantastic here, if you have good headphones you can truly appreciate it. This not so long track has several inner changes in time and tempo that show the skill of these talented members. I am weak when it is about instrumental songs, so here Beardfish succeeded with me.

The last track is 'Without Saying Anything', which starts cool with a great potential, but after a minute it absolutely changes and turns into a soft and delicate track. Actually this track suffers various changes but always return to its root, I mean it is soft later hard then soft, hard, etc. It is a pretty cool closer track, but not my favorite.

I am happy with this album, it has opened my senses and has led me to know more Beardfish, so I believe the band reached their goal with me. I recommend it for any progressive rock fan, that is why my final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

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