Posted in Whathaveyou on July 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
One does not need an excuse to see Ufomammut. One simply shows up and receives a pummeling from the outer reaches of the known cosmos as expanded by the James Webb Space Telescope and is thankful for the experience. The long-running Italian trio already did a stretch of dates this Spring to support their new album, Fenice (review here), and Urlo, Poia and post-hiatus drummer Levre will again hit the road this Fall. They were previously announced for Keep it Low in Munich, and they’ll also be at the 25th anniversary celebration of Orange Factory in Belgium.
There are a couple dates TBA on the poster, and you’ll have to forgive me for assuming there’s something there that’s yet to be revealed rather than just empty slots. Worse to worst, Ufomammut, you’re always welcome by me and I’m just like a nine-hour flight from Denmark, so feel free to pop over for a day or two.
The band posted these dates on social media:
So stoked to announce our Fenice Fall Tour! We will be touring Europe this September and October and we’re looking forward to meet you all again.
Thanks to Sound of Liberation for making this happen and Neurot Recordings and SUPERNATURALCAT for supporting our music.
20.09 – Lyon (FR) – Rock’n’Eat 21.09 – Nantes (FR) – Le Ferrailleur 22.09 – Paris (FR) – Backstage 23.09 – Tourcoing (FR) – Le Grand Mix 24.09 – Leuven (BE) – 25 Years Orange Factory – Het Depot 26.09 – Dortmund (DE) – Junkyard 27.09 – Hamburg (DE) – Knust 28.09 – Malmö (SE) – Plan B 29.09 – Stockholm (SE) – Hus 7 30.09 – Gothenburg (SE) – Valand 01.10 – Oslo (NO) – Kulturkirken Jakob (Høstsabbat presents) 02.10 – Copenhagen (DK) – Loppen 04.10 – TBA 05.10 – Leipzig (DE) – Ut Connewitz 06.10 – TBA 07.10 – München (DE) – Keep It Low Festival 08.10 – Linz (AT) – Stadtwerkstatt
Art by Malleus ROCK ART LAB Photo by Francesca De Franceschi Manzoni
UFOMAMMUT are: Poia – Guitars and Fxs Urlo – Bass, Vocals, Fxs and Synths Levre – Drums & Fxs Ciccio – Sound lord
For something so fluid in the listening experience, there are an awful lot of angles from which one might view Ufomammut‘s Fenice. Issued in continued association with Neurot Recordings, it is the ninth full-length from the groundbreaking Italian three-piece, whose Poia (guitar, synth) and Urlo (bass, vocals, synth) double as part of the visual arts collective Malleus, so long as one counts 2012’s two-part Oro: Opus Primum (review here) and Oro: Opus Alter (review here) as a single work.
It is also the band’s first album since declaring a perfectly timed indefinite hiatus in early 2020 and returning in April 2021 with new drummer Alessandro “Levre” Levrero, a longtime associate brought into the fold after the departure of Vita (now in Sonic Wolves), which was just the second lineup change Ufomammut have undergone in their 20-plus years of existence. And never mind that Ufomammut are responsible for no small part of the shape of what has become cosmic doom over the years of their tenure. Their blending of synthesizer/keyboard spaciousness, crushing riffs, atmospheric drones and a general sense of chaos — despite having a plan all the while — is singular.
While their influence has been present in the works of many who’ve come along since, Ufomammut remain unto themselves in sound, and Fenice is essentially the process by which they revamp and revitalize what that singularity is. Across the assembled six tracks and 38 minutes, the three-piece of Urlo, Poia and Levre set themselves to the task of remaking Ufomammut in the image of who they are today. Much of that will be recognizable to longer-term listeners or even those who took on 2017’s we’re-telling-you-this-is-definitely-our-eighth-record, 8 (review here), but from the energy with which cuts like 10-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Duat” and what follows are delivered, as well as the starkness with which they move back and forth between atmospheric experimentalism and drone and their rib-crunching low-end plunder, there’s a clear, refreshed sensibility to what they’re doing. The time away did them well, and among Fenice‘s strengths in production value and creative reach is the core desire to push themselves forward that has made Ufomammut so crucial and influential in the first place. No two Ufomammut records are the same — even the Oros had their own personalities — and the next one will be different from this. That should be comforting, whether you’re familiar with the band’s past work or not.
“Duat” spends its first three minutes world-building around curious depth charges, but by the time Ufomammut are another two deep, they’ve unfurled the full-bore tonal density with which they’ll work — Lorenzo Stecconi, who engineered, mixed and mastered, has been a mainstay presence of their output and his familiarity serves them well in these new songs and in their own new incarnation; that is to say, they had enough change to deal with going into the studio — and it continues to grow massive as it goes, with the on-the-beat punctuation of Levre‘s snare both along for the ride and propulsive in its own right in helping establish the overarching flow which will carry directly into the shorter drone piece “Kepherer” and on from there, weaving through the rest of the material.
Some right on rumble and bassy vibrations in “Kepherer” — those might be drums, actually — offset by high feedback and effects manipulation, and in just under three minutes, Ufomammut emphasize the hypnotic side of their approach in a way that may well be informed by some of Urlo‘s solo work in the multimedia experimental project The Mon, but “Psychostasia” brings those transcendental waveforms back to ground soon enough, Levre‘s drums and the far-back strum of Poia‘s guitar creating an open space for Urlo‘s melodic, dreamy-echo vocals. It’s further trance creation until about four and a half minutes in, then the guitar comes forward for a lead and, at 4:48, the move toward pummel begins in earnest.
They’ll get there step by step, here letting the drums go faster, there pulling back on bass, but at 5:31, they let it loose and the vocals return, and the sweep is a triumph of the promise of Ufomammut‘s aesthetic. A synth freakout is a quick bridge back to the onslaught, and as they crash into the ending of “Psychostasia” and into the beginning of the likely-autobiographical-on-some-level “Metamorphoenix,” a sample and the wash of synth noise again make the going immersive bordering on claustrophobic. As heavy as Ufomammut can get, sometimes it’s their quieter stretches that seem to most pull the air out of the room.
Just past two minutes in, “Metamorphoenix” introduces its central guitar figure, but it’s buried. Barely there, like a sumbliminal message. It’s not until the wash recedes — leaving the maybe-backwards spoken sample that accompanied behind — that “Metamorphoenix” seems to find the ground beneath it. There’s a build taking place, but the band have done this long enough that they won’t be rushed even for themselves, and each measure that ensues has a purpose of its own in feeding the forward movement.
By the time they’re seven minutes into the song’s 7:41, the tension is palpable to a near-skin-crawling degree, and it’s up to “Pyramind” to pay it off, which it does with an almost immediate turn into doomly crashes and out-the-airlock synthesizer, a lumbering that consumes the first two minutes of “Pyramind”‘s also-seven, and though they mellow out after two minutes in, the drums and bass under the heavy-but-floating guitar provide assurance there’s more to come. This part of “Pyramind” has vocals in layers — Ufomammut have never been a particularly singer-minded act, but I won’t take away from what Urlo does here or elsewhere in their catalog — and that covers the establishing a resurgent intensity of tone and riff, and at 5:36 into the 7:04, they move back to the nod and the crash that seem at first to be an apex for Fenice as a whole but with the turn to the 2:48 closer “Empyros” become just another stage of the setup.
There’s a stop, but on the next beat, “Empyros” is there and the impact is immediate, and Ufomammut finish this maybe-ninth record with a vital heavy groove, almost raw in its unfolding, but so clear in its message of riff worship as to be unmistakable. Synth swirls around, and there’s one change — at 1:43, into the next unbridled bit of skull-stompery. There are a few shouted lines, but they wrap Fenice on the relative quick and leave the listener to wonder how they managed to pack that much magnitude into a single LP. The answer to that, of course, is that they’re Ufomammut, and that’s what they do.
Whatever your level of experience with Ufomammut, whether you know them or don’t, whether you’ve been on board since 1999 or if Fenice is the first thing you’ve heard them, there are elements in these songs that have become staples of their style. They’re still two-thirds the same band, after all. But as much as Ufomammut have reaffirmed the progressive aspects of their past and remained loyal to themselves as songwriters, Fenice sounds like a new beginning too. That’s obviously not a coincidence.
Today, May 6, marks the release of Ufomammut‘s new album, Fenice, on Neurot Recordings. From where I sit, that’s enough of an occasion to fire up the webcam and have a chat with bassist/vocalist Urlo (also keyboards) about making the record and so on. But the story here isn’t so straightforward as band-has-new-album.
After celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2019, the Italian cosmic doom forebears announced in Jan. 2020 — perfect timing — they were taking an indefinite hiatus, which, honestly, felt well enough earned. Ufomammut didn’t owe anyone anything. Since 1999, they built and tore down huge walls of stylistic innovation, blending spaced-out synth, ambience, space rock and stretches of gloriously crushing riffs both in the studio and on tour, developing an aesthetic all their own and extending it even to their alter-ego visual arts concern, Malleus, and standing behind their own work and that of others with their Supernatural Cat imprint while also releasing through labels like Neurot, Rocket Recordings, The Music Cartel and Beard of Stars, reaping massive acclaim on the way and influencing a subsequent generation of interstellar destroyers in their wake. What the hell more would you want from a band? Touring the world? Well they did that too.
In April 2021, they posted they were back with founders Urlo and guitarist Poia joined for the first time by a new drummer in Alessandro “Levre” Levrero, who on Fenice steps into the position formerly held by Vita — who now is just one of the two former members Ufomammut have had in their 23-year stretch — for a six-song collection the 38 minutes of which both bear signature hallmarks of who the band have always been but hold an unmistakably shifted dynamic, finding a different path to walk than they’ve ever had before. Maybe that’s just what Ufomammut needed. Judging by how alive Fenice sounds on a creative level — shit, judging by “Psychostasia” alone — that’s precisely the case.
With the album out today, I’m thrilled to post this recent chat I had with Urlo about the changes in the band over the last couple years, their prospects for hitting the road on tour again, how he feels about their past and what might come in the future.
Please enjoy:
Ufomammut, Fenice Interview with Urlo
Fenice is available now through Neurot Recordings. More info at the links.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
New Ufommaut! Or as I like to call it as of right this second, newfomammut! While I ponder just how many times I’ve made that joke in the last 13-plus years — how many records have Ufomammut made that time? — you’ll want to note the May 6 release for Fenice through Neurot Recordings and Supernatural Cat for the first Ufomammut studio LP since 2017’s 8 (review here), the first they’ve done since marking their 20th anniversary with the boxed set XX EP (review here) and their first since both going on hiatus following the departure of drummer Vita (now of Sonic Wolves) and coming back together with Levre behind the kit.
In short, it’s a big fucking deal. New song “Psychostasia” has a video streaming below and on first impression it wields the band’s signature cosmic crush ably and sets it against what feels like some more straightforward heavy rock groove. One way or the other, if you’re not already listening to it and looking forward to this album’s arrival, I got nothing for you today.
Fresh from the PR wire:
UFOMAMMUT Announce Their New Album, “Fenice”! Out On May 6, 2022 via Neurot Recordings!
Hear Their Bold New Sound On “Psychostasia”!
On May 6th Italian alchemists and power trio Ufomammut return with their ninth studio album, Fenice via Neurot Recordings and Supernatural Cat. But not as we’ve heard them before, now “more intimate, more free.”
For over 20 years, the band has combined the heaviness and majesty of dynamic riff worship with a nuanced understanding of psychedelic tradition and history in music, creating a cosmic, futuristic, and technicolor sound destined for absolute immersion.
Fenice (meaning Phoenix in Italian) symbolically represents endless rebirth and the ability to start again after everything seems doomed. The album is the first recording with new drummer Levre, and truly marks a new chapter in Ufomammut history.
“I think we lost our spontaneity, album after album,” says Urlo. “We tried to make more complicated songs and albums, but I think at some point we just ended up repeating ourselves. With Fenice, we were ready to start from zero, we had no past anymore – so we just wanted to be reborn and rise from the ashes..”
Whilst the band are well-known for their psychedelic travels into the far reaches of the cosmos, Fenice is a much more introspective listening experience. Fenice was conceived as a single concept track, divided in six facets of this inward-facing focus. Sonic experimentations abound in the exploration of this central theme; synths and experimental vocal effects are featured more prominently than ever before as the band push themselves ever further into the uncharted territory of their very identity.
The towering synths on the opening track “Duat” evoke an almighty machine rising from the depths of primordial ooze. There’s a shift to a frenetic garage-psych pace before mellowing out into a more familiar doomy stomp. “Kepherer” is a respite, albeit a slight one, returning to the pulsing rhythms of the album’s intro before plunging the listener into the menacing build and release of “Psychostasia” next.
The second half of the record brings with it an even greater sense of dynamic exploration. “Metamorphoenix” oozes with curious synth patterns and noises, before descending into sinister chords and an oddly choral chant. An explosion of emotion heralds the beginning of “Pyramind”, all-encompassing in its riff worship and quasi-religious climax of mantra-esque vocals. “Empyros” is groovy yet irregular, with rhythms interplaying and more chanting voices, bringing the records to its end with a sense of dedication and purpose.
Each oscillation of this extraordinary album feels inevitable – Ufomammut are after all, masters of their craft, and when it comes to creating enveloping sonic journeys into the unknown, it’s their uninhibited sense of exploration that breaches new sonic ground.
Fenice is the sound of a band whose very essence has been rejuvenated, and are welcoming the chance to create music in the way they know best; by unfolding carefully and attentively, by melding those extreme dynamics which render Fenice as a living and breathing creature – and by writing gargantuan riffs that herald their very rebirth.
Fenice shall be released on LP and CD formats via Neurot Recordings, with a limited edition LP version of 666 copies on Supernatural Cat.
