Mammoth Mammoth: Volume IV - Hammered Again

Australian stoners prove a menace to all moggies

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The snotty hyperactive nephews running amok at the bring-a-bong barbecue where Nashville Pussy, Orange Goblin and Fu Manchu are handing round the hot dogs, Melbourne sleazebags Mammoth Mammoth bring a peculiarly Antipodean vigour, humour and attitude to the fuzzy fundamentals of stoner rock’n’roll, joyously evident in lyrics like ‘I eat angel dust for breakfast then I microwave the cat’ from Turbonegroid biker rumble Fuel Injected.

Energised tempos, bratty pop-punk hooks and a celebratory jam-room atmosphere are sloppily nailed throughout the band’s fourth long-player in as many years; at times Mikey Tucker’s John Garcia-tinged vocals incorporate a touch of young Hetfield.

From raucous singalong Life’s A Bitch to closing epic drug-doom wig-out High As A Kite, the Mammoths’ spirited gusto is undoubtedly infectious, although at times these well-worn shapes struggle to escape the weight of their influences./o:p

Chris Chantler

Chris has been writing about heavy metal since 2000, specialising in true/cult/epic/power/trad/NWOBHM and doom metal at now-defunct extreme music magazine Terrorizer. Since joining the Metal Hammer famileh in 2010 he developed a parallel career in kids' TV, winning a Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award for BBC1 series Little Howard's Big Question as well as writing episodes of Danger Mouse, Horrible Histories, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed and The Furchester Hotel. His hobbies include drumming (slowly), exploring ancient woodland and watching ancient sitcoms.