Steel Mammoth: Atomic Mountain
(Ektro Records EKTRO-047 2007)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
Right on the heels of the Nuclear Barbarians EP I reviewed some time ago Steel
Mammoth, the harbingers of NWOFHM release their first full-length. Led by Circle’s
Jussi Lehtisalo the band swears in the name or true 80’s heavy metal,
although there is also a bit different stuff on this album. The album begins
with some hard rocking. “Black Team” is monotonic pounding with
harmony vocals. The vocals on the chorus remind me of Glenn Danzig… There
is also some guitar soloing at times. This is a really tight opener! “Heart
of Bone” is a bit more laid-back number in the 80’s metal vein.
“Midnight Witches” that was also played on their debut gig comes
next and this hypnotic track grows into a total exorcism towards the end. One
of the album’s best tracks is the kraut-styled “Blackout Leather”
that has a rockier chorus. Also “Nuclear Barbarians”, another kraut-styled,
straight-forward and excellent number that was already released on the band’s
first EP, rocks very well. The least heavy track on the CD is the long, repetitive,
almost instrumental “Commando Leopard” that has at first some small-scale,
weird vocals. Before three minutes have passed the rhythm fades out completely,
and experimental, psychedelic and strange noise follows for a long time. The
comp returns after the nine-minute-marker and there’s some growling and
squeaking in the end. A very weird number! The mid-tempo and simple “Riders
of Death” has a powerful chorus with some backing vocals as well. The
track has a bit of soloing and even a C part. In the end there is some screaming
guitar and it gets pretty psychedelic. The NEU!-like rock piece “Metal
Infant” has very funny lyrics and nice soloing. This rather fast song
rocks really well! The album closes with its most peaceful ballad called “Atomic
Mountain” and it’s a quite melancholic and beautiful number. This
is a very good album that includes both real dedication to the cause and metal
cliché humour, and these together form a very tasty soup. The band’s
music may work even better in a live environment when the energy charge is as
high as possible.
You can find a bit more information from the band’s MySpace site at
http://www.myspace.com/steelmammoth.
Reviewed by Santtu Laakso