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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Daniel Gustafsson of Mammoth Volume

Posted in Questionnaire on February 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Daniel Gustafsson of Mammoth Volume

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Daniel Gustafsson of Mammoth Volume

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

The Swedish idiom I use is ‘hobby-musician’. If the person I’m talking to still hasn’t left after that description, I get into subcategories like ‘bedroom recordings’, DIY, Black Sabbath- and Mike Oldfield worship. By now I’m talking to myself for sure, and that’s when I like to add that one doesn’t choose an artistic hobby, it chooses you. Music picked me. I’m a subpar poet and a terrible painter, but writing, playing and recording music is the gift that keeps on giving for me.
Describe your first musical memory.

An Elton John live concert on TV, and particularly a rock and roll song. I was playing the crap out of the sofa pillows for drums, but I also decided to learn to play the piano then and there. (I half delivered on that promise.)
Some years later, and probably more profoundly, I sometimes got to stick around at my grandfather’s place when his friends came by with their violins, accordions and acoustic guitars (and alcohol!); they were jamming on Swedish folkmusic and trading hot solos. To this day, unplugged folky jams are probably my favourite. And alcohol.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Some time along the 2001 MV tour the band started to get more and more loose, and it was during some of those live improvisations I started to feel that we as a group had a pretty great chemistry. Now trust me, we didn’t always slay! BUT it was a real ego boost to feel that the band could throw itself into any old vamp, and still make quality music. Opinions may vary on that of course.

On a ‘higher’ level, the best musical memory would be when I realised cannabis made my favourite records five times better. I’m down to 1.5 times better by now, but still totally worth it.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I was brought up a materialistic working-class atheist, then I switched to young adult Christian for 15 years, and then I went back to middle-aged agnostic-atheism, so there’s that. First hand experience of how the ‘grand narrative’ really does shape one’s worldview.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I’m sure you chose that phrase — artistic progression — precisely to mess with musicians [Not true. – ed.]… so here goes:

I am a little suspicious of musicians who keep “broadening their horizon” for one thing. Sure, there have been a few great artists who have pulled it off qualitywise, but us average Joes shouldn’t be so ambitious. I say it’s better to dig deeper rather than to look to your sides for inspiration. But then again, I am very much an introvert in the jungian sense. If somebody says they love “all kinds of music” I go into crazy tourettes mode and start listing bands and artists, demanding to know if the person ACTUALLY loves Stockhausen, Portal (Aus), Ornette Coleman, shrieking Muslim calls to prayer… Some people’s sanctimonious virtue signaling using different kinds of world-music in particular is laughable. It’s OK to dislike certain styles of music; in fact if you don’t, that means you have no quality standard by which to make an aesthetic judgment. Whatever.

Secondly, I think there are fundamentally distinct aspects to ‘art’. Similar to how music consists of melody-harmony-rhythm-tambre, there’s art for pleasure, for education and propaganda, for communion, for introspection; art from the head and art from the heart, sometimes even art from your naughty bits. For example: I didn’t learn to play the guitar to get chicks, so if I turned into Tommy Lee’s penis on our next tour that would not count as artistic progress. I have a few aspects of making music that I focus on (e.g. improvisation/chance; through composed harmonies over improvised music; the instrumentation) so artistic progression, for me, means doing more of the same but with a slight variation. More like Darwinian evolution than some crazy Frankenstein scientist mixing a little bit of this, a little bit of that, hoping to suddenly get it right.

How do you define success?

Crush the enemies. See them driven before you. Then, hear the lamentation of my super-ego wailing “What are you doooing!”

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Dad’s porn collection.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

How about a concept/rock opera album. But a really good one. No fillers. The second side of the LP is one long track of course. But what’s the concept? Undecided at the moment. If you asked me two days ago I would suggest the sinking of the ferry Estonia 1994. If you asked me two weeks ago I would say The Life of Jesus (part the first). At the moment I am reading up on some hella exciting psychiatric diagnoses, that would be great fodder for a concept album. I think this project will have to wait until I’ve made up my mind.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

I think there are a couple of different functions of art, because there are a couple of different aspects to this thing we call ‘art’. As I have already hinted at, the self-reflecting function of creating and working with music is a key aspect for me. Art as a way of holding up a mirror (in this case to myself, as opposed to society). But I also unironically appreciate the pure beauty of some art/music; a few moments of sublimated pleasure, a glimpse of perfection. That meeting can raise the spirits in an important way.

And a different sort of function: my chosen art ‘music’ becomes a conduit for things not necessarily music related. For example, the problem solving aspect of editing music is almost as rewarding to me as the actual writing of the music. That whole trial-and-error process, guided by educated guesses, fills up my quota of crossword puzzle brain gymnastics. If I didn’t have music I would have to get that fix somewhere else but as it happens art, qua function, has that covered too.

Lastly, the act of listening to one’s intuition, a vision if you’re lucky, and then to follow that vague sense of direction, that builds character. Forget about being in charge, forget about applying your training; listen closely to your intuition and have faith that you’re going in the right direction. Making music can be a safe training ground for working on that skill, which then has a chance of spilling over into ‘real’ life.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

No.

https://www.facebook.com/mammothvolume
https://mammothvolume.bandcamp.com/

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Mammoth Volume, The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites (2022)

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Mammoth Volume Premiere “A Lullaby of Doom” Video; New Album Due Aug. 19

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Mammoth Volume

Sweden’s Mammoth Volume release their new album, The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites, on Aug. 19 through Blues Funeral Recordings.

Once upon about 20 years ago, there was a band in Sweden who were weird. They were called Mammoth Volume, and amid the surge of heavy rock and roll coming out of their home country at the time (see also: always), the Lysekil natives took a more pastoral turn. They weren’t going for retroism like others at that particular moment, but their brand of heavy rock fore sure was indebted to the classics. 21 years after releasing their landmark second LP, 2001’s A Single Book of Songs By…, the weirdos are back and, well, they’re still weird.

That is to say, their approach, whatever familiarity it might have to desert-minded this or classically bluesy that, is still their own. Fact of the matter is Mammoth Volume were never as big as some of the others of their cohort because they didn’t fit as easy into a single idea. Their songs could go different places, add different vibes to a record, and that’s still the case on the cumbersomely titled The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites. Just because it’s been two decades you think they can’t outweird you? I promise you they beg to differ.

“A Lullaby of Doom” is the first audio to come from The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites, which will be out Aug. 19 through Blues Funeral Recordings, and you’ll find it premiering in the video below. Please also note that this release is included in Postwax Year II, for which I write the liner notes.

Video and details from the PR wire follow:

 

Mammoth Volume, “A Lullaby of Doom” video premiere

Mammoth Volume on “A Lullaby of Doom”:

“”A Lullaby of Doom” is the first single from The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites. The song is about a possible future with rampant wars and destruction, but also about hope, love and reconciliation. Now is a good time to reflect on – and appreciate – the fact that we do not live in a warzone. So, sit back, pour yourself a cold beer, smoke ’em if you got ’em, crank up the volume, listen and enjoy!”

Mammoth Volume was founded in the small Swedish town of Lysekil in 1996, during a recording session where Daniel Gustafsson was the artist and Nicklas Andersson was the sound engineer. Also at the session was Nicklas’ brother Jörgen (known then as THE metal singer in Lysekil). A friend of the three, Kalle Berlin, was invited to complete the lineup of the new band on bass, an instrument he hadn’t played before. A truly humble beginning. At the time, stoner rock was new, cool, and catching fire in Sweden, and Mammoth Volume immediately sought to differentiate themselves. Proggy sections, unusual melodic phrasings, jazzy breaks, shady tempo changes and wistful ballads became hallmarks of their sound.

A band who never thought anyone but friends and family would listen to their music signed with American record company The Music Cartel in 1998, and released their debut album the following year. Emails and phone calls began to flow in. The visitor counter on their official website increased noticeably, and Stonerrock.com – the place to be if you followed the genre – praised the record.

Noara Dance was released in 2000, a seven-song EP on CD and vinyl. Another positive response followed, and the band embarked on small tours in Germany and Holland with Dozer and Terra Firma, among others. In 2001, A Single Mammoth-Volume-The-Cursed-Who-Perform-The-Larvagod-RitesBook of Songs was released and hit like a bomb in the scene. The album won the year’s best album on Stonerrock.com, even though the record made it clearer than ever that Mammoth Volume was as influenced by Yes and Mike Oldfield as by Kyuss. The band took to the road for the biggest tour of their career across Europe, playing in some places to packed houses, while other venues were almost comically empty.

The first phase of Mammoth Volume came to a close with the release of the 17-song “DEMO” album The Early Years. With that, the band took a long break. They recorded a few demos in the mid-2000’s, had a couple of rehearsals, gigs and recording sessions in the early 2010’s, but all in a fairly underground way. But Nicklas always had the vision to re-start the band properly, convinced that, with Daniel at his side, Mammoth Volume had more to give.

At last, the band officially reactivated in 2019, stronger than ever, and ready to present their comeback album of genre-bending stoner-prog fusion to an unsuspecting world.

New album “The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites”
Available on August 19th, 2022 through Blues Funeral Recordings.

Stronger and weirder than ever, Mammoth Volume return with their comeback album of genre-bending stoner-prog fusion. Ready to blindside the scene with massive riffs, unexpected instrumentation, and angular yet irresistible hooks, their approach remains utterly unique, going back to when this innovative foursome reigned over the early, wild west days of the online heavy rock landscape.

The band says: “The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites is our first official release in over twenty years. A little bit of butterflies in the stomach, and a metallic taste in the mouth actually. How will our old fans react to our music in 2022? Well, we can promise them it is like nothing they could even imagine. It’s not metal, it’s not Nordic folk music, it’s not retro prog; but a bit of everything in between these styles. The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites is a fictional (and sometimes not so fictional) journey through fire-ravaged wastelands, medieval castles, long abandoned ruins, post-apocalyptic cities and the modern city. So strap in, because you will be encountering demons, fortune tellers, literary figures, and of course the occasional cryptic gobbledygook lyrics for good measure. »

Tracklist:
1 The Kuleshov Effect
2 Diablo IV
3 Medieval Torture Device
4 Want to Join Us? Come Back Later!
5 Osteoporos
6 The Lightwedge 60’s Race, Zombie Piccolos and the German
7 A King and a Tyrant
8 A Lullaby of Doom
9 Diablo V: Lanternsong

Album credits:
Jörgen “Aston” Andersson – Vocals
Daniel Gustafsson – Guitars, Keyboards
Kalle Berlin – Bass
Nicklas Andersson – Drums, Vocals, Percussions

Guest Performances:
Richard Maisa – Bass on ‘Medieval Torture Device’ and ‘A King and a Tyrant’
Iza Elfström – Backup Vocals on ‘The Kuleshov Effect’

Mammoth Volume on Facebook

Mammoth Volume on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings on Facebook

Blues Funeral Recordings on Instagram

Blues Funeral Recordings on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings website

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Mammoth Volume Join PostWax Vol. II Lineup with New Album

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 22nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Like Josiah before them, Sweden’s Mammoth Volume will return with their first album in more than a decade’s time as part of Blues Funeral Recordings‘ PostWax series. They’re next on my list for liner notes, as it happens. They join the ranks of Acid King, a REZN/Vinnum Sabbathi collaboration, Elephant Tree and Lowrider, and the aforementioned Josiah in taking part in PostWax Vol. II, and in addition to announcing their involvement below, the PR wire also brings word that art is being handled by Johnny Dombrowski and Maarten Donders, who will alternate covers back and forth and collaborate on a piece together as well, which presumably (that is, I don’t know this for sure, but imagine so) will be used as front-piece for the eventual box that will contain all the Vol. II PostWax offerings.

That’s five of the nine PostWax unveilings in the bag, and if you’re not sure whether or not you should be stoked on Mammoth Volume — who first announced their reunion last summer — putting out a new record, I wholeheartedly invite you to dig into 2001’s A Single Book of Songs By… at the bottom of this post. Another pre-social media gem from the turn of the century, it is.

Dig:

mammoth volume

Swedish stoner prog veterans MAMMOTH VOLUME to release new album as part of PostWax Vol. II vinyl subscription series on Blues Funeral Recordings

Swedish stoner prog veterans MAMMOTH VOLUME are confirmed to take part in Blues Funeral Recordings’ anticipated PostWax Vol. II vinyl series by releasing their first album in almost twenty years. Blues Funeral Recordings also present the art team to provide the illustrations and artwork on PostWax Vol. II: heavy music scene stalwart Maarten Donders and award-winning artist Johnny Dombrowski.

In the years between 1998 and 2002, MAMMOTH VOLUME released three albums that each made an increasingly massive impact among the growing worldwide heavy-rock community. With a style that blended an affection for American desert rock but was just as deeply characterized by a passion for 70s prog, jazzy breaks and wistful passages, their quirky take on heavy rock offered an angular yet infectious alternative to the boogie van riffage advanced by so many of the genre’s purveyors.

Re-activated in 2019, MAMMOTH VOLUME will soon return with a new album that’s vibrating with long-bottled-up energy. Drummer and founder Nicklas Andersson says: “Mammoth Volume is back, stronger than ever. It will be incredibly exciting to share our new music with the people for the first time in quite a few years. One thing is certain: this is exactly the record we wanted to make as we return to underground heavy scene, and we’re anxious for everyone to hear it!”

The work of heavy music art veteran Maarten Donders is known for its surreal, experimental, almost dreamlike qualities, and he has provided handmade illustrations, logos, designs and creative direction for countless musicians, bands, record labels, artists, magazines and venues in the music world. His work includes album covers and posters for the likes of Roadburn, Windhand, Monolord, Graveyard and Brant Bjork. Brooklyn-based award-winning illustrator Johnny Dombrowski has produced pieces for The New York Times, Penguin Random House, StudioCanal, GQ, Black Dragon Press and more. Recently, he has ventured into replicating, as closely as possible, the process and aging of pre-digital comic books. What started as an experiment soon turned into an obsession, taking influence over his client work and technique.

These two illustrators will alternate in creating album covers for each of the PostWax Vol. II releases, as well as contributing other elements throughout the process and collaborating on one cover piece, all under the art direction of Peder Bergstrand.

=> Get more info and subscribe to the PostWax Vol. II
AT THIS LOCATION: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bluesfuneral/postwax-vol-ii

The PostWax series present exclusive limited edition records from some of the best stoner rock, doom and heavy psych bands on the planet. Benefiting from a spectacular success in 2018, PostWax Year One debuted releases to subscribers first, which were subsequently issued in standard retail versions to the public several months later. With Acid King, Josiah, Lowrider, Elephant Tree, REZN and Vinnum Sabbathi already announced, the upcoming PostWax Vol. II series will present 9 deluxe releases on gorgeous vinyl, with each record including at least one exclusive track only available to subscribers, also coming with next-level sleeve design, hand-crafted art and behind-the-scenes liner notes. The first PostWax Vol. II release will be delivered directly to subscribers in the summer of 2021.

https://mammothvolume.bandcamp.com/
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https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
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Mammoth Volume, A Single Book of Songs By… (2001)

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Mammoth Volume Reunite; Archive Recordings Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 28th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

It’s been long enough since the last time we heard anything from Mammoth Volume that when you Google the band’s Facebook you get Mammoth Mammoth instead. I’ve talked about the band here once or twice, their 1999 self-titled debut was discussed here a few years back, but they belong to the era of pre-social media mobilization heavy from which many bands who existed in a MySpace ecosphere have virtually (literally, virtually) disappeared. The fact that Mammoth Volume broke up in the mid-aughts essentially means their CD-era catalog is in dire need of reissue — they were originally signed to The Music Cartel — and while they’re reportedly working on new material in the studio as we speak, they’ve posted a few archival offerings to a new Bandcamp page for listeners to check out.

Though it speaks to the very fact of their reunion, Return of the Mammoth Volume was tracked in 2005. Likewise, the Loved by Few, Hated by Dolphins EP was posted by the band in 2008 as their last outing (I think they were already broken up at the time) and Promo Vol. 1 & 2 – Tour & Turtle 1998 brings together two different demos sent out to initially try to score a record deal.

None of these has the presence of 2000’s Noara Dance or their swansong LP, A Single Book of Songs, but it’s been so long that it’s good just to know they’re out there doing anything at all. Credit to Remi VL for putting me onto the fact that they were active again.

Here’s info and audio:

return of the mammoth volume

Mammoth Volume was born in the winter of 1996, called into life by the main song writing team of Nicklas and Daniel. Nicklas engaged his older brother Jorgen to take over vocal duties and with the final addition of bass player Kalle, the band was born. The band is from the town of Lysekil, Sweden.

Mammoth volume formed as a recording project, but got a record deal right immediately and tours and various gigs became a fact. The band split ten years later. The band has released three full-length albums and a “maxicd” and a handful of demos.

Mammoth Volume is:
Jörgen Aston Andersson – vocals
Kalle Berlin – bass
Daniel Gustavsson – guitar
Nicklas Andersson – drums.

https://mammothvolume.bandcamp.com/

Mammoth Volume, Promo Vol. 1 & 2 – Tour & Turtle 1998 (2020)

Mammoth Volume, Loved by Few, Hated by Dolphins (2020)

Mammoth Volume, Return of the Mammoth Volume (2020)

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