https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Mammoth Salmon, Internet EP 1 & 2: Caught a Case of Green Lung

Posted in Reviews on August 16th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Granted, it’s not much of a shocker these days when one encounters a heavy act based out of Portland, Oregon, but that scene continues to thrive on the diversity of those that make it up. For as many groups as there are coming out of that part of the country, there isn’t a “Portland sound” as much as one might easily be defined by the influence of the likes of Red Fang or YOB (yes, I know YOB are from Eugene; still relatively close), who’ve obviously had an impact but not at the sacrifice of newer bands’ individuality. In the case of the duo of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Paul Dudziak and drummer Mitch Meidinger, who got together under the moniker of Mammoth Salmon early in 2012, the bent isn’t so much on mining the tactics of well known acts as it is searching out their own niche within an overarching sense of stomp and tonal largesse. To date, Mammoth Salmon have two EPs — Internet EP and Internet EP 2 — both of which were recorded by Mike Anzalone at Studio 1414 and mastered by Adam Pike, and both of which show how the two-piece so readily defies the notion that more personnel equals a bigger sound, the heavy landings of “Self Induced” calling for immediate acquiescence in the form of fervent, repeated nod.

Neither Internet EP nor its sequel, which may well have been recorded at the same time, overstays its welcome, and even on the first, which marked their debut as a band when it was released in December, Mammoth Salmon show a bit of diversity in their taking on post-Sleep and early-High on Fire grooving, Dudziak leading uniformly with the riffs, but Meidinger adding such visceral punctuation to the opening “Narcotic Delirium” as to be as necessary a presence as his comprising 50 percent of the band’s lineup would lead one to believe. The grooves are familiar, but thick, and when Dudziak comes in with the first vocals of “Self Induced,” he touches on toughguy brashness and winds up hinting at some of the blown-out King Buzzo-isms that make themselves felt on the longer, more wah-coated  “Hypnotic Transference,” arguably the most “stoner” of the big-riff twosome’s first EP inclusions, picking up with jagged guitar after the instrumental build at the end of “Self Induced” has paid off and subsided. Here too, the band seems like a nascent entity, but the bass-heavy lo-fi vibe feels dragged right from the slopes of Sleep’s Holy Mountain and I’m not going to complain about that.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , ,