Cosmic doom conjurers Ufomammut celebrated their 15th anniversary last fall by embarking on what they called the “Magickal Mastery Tour,” picking out material from across their catalog and giving a career-spanning set to mark the passing of time. Next month, they’ll release a new DVD, XV: 15 Years of Ufomammut, that captures that live show and includes a documentary about the trio as well. Preorders for that are up now via the band’s own Supernatural Cat in Europe and Earsplit Compound in the US (links below), but I also like the part where the PR wire informs that Ufomammut will hit the studio this month for a new album to be released next spring on Neurot.

Hugely interested to hear what Ufomammut might come up with for a new record after the two-part Oro in 2012 seemed to expand beyond any boundaries they’d previously known. Do they somehow continue to get bigger-sounding and reach farther, or somehow contract, and perhaps inspired by playing earlier material, move toward a more stripped down approach. It’s foolish to speculate one way or another, but Oro is one hell of an act to follow either way.

Info and whatnot:

UFOMAMMUT Announces Details Of Fifteen Year Anniversary DVD

Studio Time Booked For September; North American Tour Plans On The Horizon

UFOMAMMUT, Italian sorcerers of supernatural and obliterating doom, have been very busy behind the scenes following the release of their widely acclaimed ORO collection on Neurot Recordings and the Magickal Mastery Tour of 2013 and 2014, which saw them performing music from across their canon. A band constantly pushing and looking forward, while simultaneously keeping a firm eye on their history, as they continue to celebrate their fifteen years in existence, they still have much in store for their fanbase.

Since 2013, UFOMAMMUT has been working on a video project which will be released on DVD via the band’s Supernatural Cat Records this October, after all, the visual element of the band is of equal importance to their music. The DVD features over three hours of live footage — including Magickal Mastery Live, a 12 song live act — interviews, outtakes, and extras all documenting these first fifteen years of the band. Titled XV, this audiovisual experience will also be available as a special wooden 8GB USB drive.

On the subject of reaching this milestone the band commented…”ORO was a particularly ambitious album for us, and the Magickal Mastery Tour was a great chance to revisit all of our favorite songs in front of really great crowds. When we took some time to reflect on what we had accomplished we knew that the best ways to celebrate our first fifteen years, was a DVD release, something for our fans to contribute towards and to treasure. We’re excited about what the next fifteen years has in store…”

Preorders for the XV DVD have been posted. International orders can be placed via Supernatural Cat HERE and US fans can order exclusively via Earsplit Distro HERE.

In addition to this DVD release, UFOMAMMUT has confirmed that they will be heading into the studio to record their seventh studio collection this September. The new album should see the light of day in Spring 2015 via Neurot Recordings. They’ve also revealed plans to return to the USA to tour the entire country for the first time, as well as a promise of more European performances. Stay tuned for more details on all developments in the coming weeks.

The Magickal Mastery Live Running Order:
Superjunkhead
Hellcore
Oroborus
Stigma
Zerosette
Destroyer
Sublime
Eve (Pt. III & IV)
Sulphurdew
Odio
Stardog
God

http://www.ufomammut.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/UFOMAMMUT/83336386071
http://www.supernaturalcat.com
http://www.malleusdelic.com
http://www.neurotrecordings.com
https://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings

Ufomammut, XV Preview

Just because you’ve released a series of outstanding cosmic doom albums doesn’t mean you can’t take some time to have a little fun. That would at least seem to be the mentality Italian trio Ufomammut are marking their arrival at 15 years as a band. The psychedelic megacrushers have announced that their next European run will be dubbed the Magickal Mastery Tour and will find them spanning their catalog from 2000’s Godlike Snake all the way up to last year’s brilliant two-parter, Oro (review here and here).

The PR wire offers the following Beatles-referential glimpse:

UFOMAMMUT UNVEIL, THE MAGICKAL MASTERY TOUR

Like a snake biting its own tail, time is circular, and with their upcoming tour, Ufomammut further corroborate ouroboric tendencies…

This autumn, Ufomammut will excavate items from their pliocenic past, keeping their third eye pointed at the future – the ‘Magickal Mastery Tour’ is a journey through fifteen years of Ufomammut music, performing under a new light songs from Godlike Snake to ORO, as thanksgiving to people for their support and devotion.

The band commented…”We are very excited to come out and play material from across our album catalogue, whereas recent focus has been on ORO, an album which we are most proud of, we are looking forward to playing older material also, it’s been a while! This marks the last tour we shall do for a period, whilst we concentrate on writing a new album”

MAGICKAL MASTERY TOUR DATES:
25 sept – Arena – Vienna (A)
26 sept – Stattwerkstatt – Linz (A)
27 sept – Kulturpalast – Wiesbaden (D)
28 sept – Het Depot – Leuven (B)
29 sept – Vera – Groningen (NL)
01 oct – The Fleece – Bristol (UK)
02 oct – Brudenell social club – Leeds (UK)
03 oct – The Underworld – London (UK)
04 oct – 4AD – Diksmuide (BE)
05 oct – Römer – Bremen (D)
06 oct – KB18 – Copenhagen (DK)
07 oct – Blitz – Oslo (NOR)
09 oct – Luttako – Jväskyla (FIN)*
10 oct – Kuudes Linja – Helsinki (FIN)*
11 oct – Yo Talo – Tampere (FIN)*
12 oct – Nuclear Nightclub – Oulu (FIN)*
17 oct – Progresja – Warsaw (PL)
18 oct – Bii Nu – Berlin (D)
19 oct – Keep it Low Festival – Munich (D)
* Thanks to BLOW UP THAT GRAMOPHONE

With more dates to be announced, and support acts also, stay tuned because this is only the tip of the iceberg!

www.ufomammut.com
www.supernaturalcat.com

Ufomammut, Magickal Mastery Tour trailer

One of the most fascinating and satisfying aspects of Italy’s Ufomammut throughout the course of their career has been the seemingly willful drive to top themselves with each new release. Whether it was the jump from 2000’s Godlike Snake debut to 2004’s landmark Snailking or the experimentation in style and tone that would commence with 2005’s Lucifer Songs before solidifying on 2008’s Idolum (a collaboration with Lento was released in 2007 as well, furthering the experimental and ambient bent), the trio of Urlo (vocals, bass, synth), Poia (guitar, synth) and Vita (drums) have never yet failed to go bigger and grander sound-wise while also proportionately expanding their creative breadth. With 2010’s Eve (review here), Ufomammut embarked on the challenge of creating an album out of a singular longform work. It was a natural step for the band after Idolum, and they weren’t the first to confront that task – see Sleep’s Dopesmoker for a formative example. But where Sleep’s magnum opus would also serve as their swansong, Ufomammut did not fall apart after Eve, instead finding the climate of the heavy underground welcoming them to their greatest success yet. Eve made numerous year-end lists (including mine) and thrust Ufomammut to what could only be considered their rightful place among doom’s current elite and most groundbreaking acts. Listening, the album made you want to start a band that sounded just like it.

But in following it up, Ufomammut are truly in uncharted territory, which makes the arrival of Oro so much more exciting. Aligned now to Neurot Recordings for the first time (their own Supernatural Cat imprint has a hand in it too, from what I understand, and of course their Malleus alter-ego handled the artwork), Urlo, Poia and Vita have reasoned out a plan that – in keeping with their track record to date – is bigger than Eve, more of an ambient wash, more cosmically crushing and psychedelic in its weight, but most of all, more patient. Patient enough, in fact, that they’ve split the album in half. Oro arrives over the course of 2012 in two parts, subtitled Opus Primum and Opus Alter. It’s a risky move, bifurcating and delivering the singular idea over the course of two distinct pieces. The most recent example I can think of is Earth’s Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light on Southern Lord, and I would argue that over time, the thrill of the second piece was lessened by the fact that the musical ideas had already been presented on the first – as though the band had preempted itself. Ufomammut cover a huge expanse of stylistic ground on Oro: Opus Primum, but the question remains to be answered how Opus Alter will push these ideas even further. In a way, it’s unfair to critique the work they’re doing here, because it’s like trying to judge a painting before the sketch is colored in. You have the context and the basic form, but the complete narrative remains to be told. Certainly one’s tendency to default to hyperbole when it comes to Ufomammut’s work – “They sound like planets breaking!!!!” etc. (apologies if anyone has actually said that; it just came to me because it’s how I actually think they sound) – feels premature as regards the five tracks and 51 minutes the band presents here. They might sound like planets breaking on the über-lurching centerpiece “Infearnatural,” but the public hardly yet knows if that will continue on Opus Alter’s material and thus serve as a viable statement for Oro as a whole.

While it’s a tough spot for reviewing Oro or trying to get a sense of what Ufomammut might do on the second part of this album that’s not just pure conjecture, it’s not as though Opus Primum is lacking substance at all. Quite the opposite. It may sound like half an album and leave one with a feeling that there’s conclusion yet to come, that imbalance is justified by the method of release Ufomammut have undertaken. The opening track here, “Empireum,” is essentially a 14-minute build up; an introduction to the yet-partially-obscured whole of Oro. It begins with a low end boom, subtle like a far off shutting down before creepy synth lines and backing noise – along with Vita’s slowly faded in drums – introduce the figure that will typify the song. As well as setting the course atmospherically for the rest of Opus Primum, “Empireum” also shows how patient Ufomammut have become within their songwriting. Perhaps it’s the extra space a two-album release provides them, but although the band has not wanted for ambience across their last several releases – Eve, Idolum and the Lento collaboration – “Empireum” pushes almost immediately further into the atmospheric. They’ve never been about catchy pop hooks or anything like that, and they’ve certainly made excellent use of peaks and valleys over the last decade, but in searching through their catalog, instances of this kind of patience are few and far between, even on some of their most extended material, be it the whole of Eve or cuts like “Demontain” from Snailking, which split its 28 minutes with a long break, or “Void” from Idolum, which followed a course less linear in its construction. “Empireum” unfolds smoothly, gradually, and seems for the first eight minutes-plus like it’s swallowing you in one piece, mostly because it is.

It opens up, finally, to its payoff, and rides and continues to build on its churn for about half of the remaining five minutes, before Vita’s drumming provides percussive underscore for sustained, airy chords from Poia and Urlo, and the synths come back slower to remind of the song’s beginning. That figure shows up later on “Magickon” as well, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was the last thing of substance (outro noise notwithstanding) one hears at the close of Opus Alter when that hits, though Ufomammut have never held much allegiance to doing what’s expected of them. The ambience that closes “Empireum” crashes into the droning, thickened riff that commences “Aureum,” which at 12:28 joins with the opener in accounting for more than half of Opus Primum’s runtime. Perhaps more characteristically Ufomammut in its giant space-tinged feel and gargantuan tone – Poia and Urlo joined together with periodic thuds from Vita backing them – it’s still almost two and a half minutes before the song is under way with its more doomed groove. Ultimately, it’s riffs like this that have earned Ufomammut their reputation as one of the heaviest bands in the world, and listening to “Aureum” run its course, I can hardly disagree with that assessment. When Urlo’s vocals start, seeming to drift in echoes in and out from another dimension, indeed the world itself seems small compared to the physicality of this material. They are cosmic doom, earning and helping to define what that means every step of the way. “Aureum” switches at about five and a half minutes to a more complex, winding riff, but loses none of its momentum, cutting to just the guitars and synth at six minutes to introduce the progression that will eventually slam back into what, for lack of better designation, seems to be the verse.

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In the wake of YOB‘s unfortunate cancellation, Roadburn has announced that Italian drone metal gods Ufomammut will be appearing at this year’s edition of the festival, playing the whole of last year’s brilliant Eve album. This is, as if I needed to say it, very good news. Eve was chosen by Roadburn-website patrons as the album of 2010 (who could argue?), so it’s all the more appropriate.

Here’s this from the Roadburn site:

Roadburn is thrilled to announce that Italy’s psychedelic drone lords, Ufomammut, will perform their much acclaimed 2010 album, Eve, in its entirety at this year’s Roadburn Festival, Saturday, April 16 at the Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland.

Ufomammut commented: “Since our Eve album was voted best of 2010 by Roadburn readers, playing it at the upcoming festival will have a very special meaning for Ufomammut! It’ll be our chance to properly say thanks to all the people who have supported us throughout the years. See you in April!”

We’re getting into serious “don’t leave home without it” territory now. I didn’t realize it at the time I put the list together, but every album in my top 10 is on my person at virtually all times. With the top 20 stuff, some of it I had to take off the shelf at home to write about, but Kylesa, Yawning Man, Asteroid, Clamfight? These are records I haven’t been willing to part with since I got them, and the same goes for the crushing single-song (five-track) opus Eve by Italian über-doomers Ufomammut.

In fact, not only is Eve in the CD wallet that comes with me just about everywhere I go, but it’s in perhaps the most venerated of positions therein, right next to YOB‘s The Unreal Never Lived. Yes, I organize my CD wallet in such a manner, and yes, Eve is that fucking good. Several incarnations of this list had it as number one, and really, it could just as easily be there as here or anywhere in between given my mood that day. Eve demolished my ears unlike anything else in 2010. It was amazing.

The trio, who double as the visual arts collective Malleus and triple as the Supernatural Cat label (home to Lento and now OvO as well as Ufomammut) are without question one of the finest acts in doom the world over. They have mastered the art of hypnosis via riff, and going by Eve, it feels like their creativity is boundless. I heard a lot of albums this year — just look at the reviews category. Know that I mean it when I say Eve was a landmark whose appeal will last longer than 2010. I said at the time I reviewed it that I felt lucky to be alive when music like this is being made, and I absolutely still feel that way every time I listen to Ufomammut. Eve is a masterpiece.

As the label is run by the members of drone overlords Ufomammut, it’s no small honor to have your band be on that label. Following on the heels of Lento, Morkobot and Incoming Cerebral Overdrive is multi-national weirduo (that’s a weird duo, if you’re unwilling to parse the word) OvO, whose album is due in the Spring.

The PR wire has this:

Italian purveyors of all things heavy Supernatural Cat Records are proud to announce the signing of experimental duo OvO to their eclectic and crushing label roster. In a brief statement from the label this week, Supernatural Cat stated: “We’re proud to announce that OvO joined Supernatural Cat. OvO is not noise, not metal, not doom, not punk, not rock and roll, even if there’s a little bit of influence from all of these genres. It’s not free, nor avant, and definitely not improv. For once, yes, we can really say we can’t file a band!”

The duo known as OvO are already well-known throughout the underground noise, doom and experimental scenes, bearing releases being released by such labels as Bar La Muerte, Blossoming Noise and Load Records. Having played somewhere in the vicinity of 600 shows since their inception at the turn of the century, the band’s travels have taken them from Europe to Mexico, from America to Israel, and beyond. OvO have collaborated, recorded and/or played live with countless notable acts including Nadja, KK Null, Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Rollerball, Thrones, SubArachnoid Space, Zeni Geva, Lightning Bolt, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Estradasphere and more.

OvO‘s upcoming album Cor Cordium is due out in the Spring 2011 via Supernatural Cat, the label who’ve brought incredible releases from Lento, Morkobot, Incoming Cerebral Overdrive, and most notably, doom trio Ufomammut, who are also some of the masterminds behind both Supernatural Cat Records and Malleus Art Rock Lab. Read more on OvO at Supernatural Cat‘s newly redesigned website.

Oh, Europe. Not enough that you have centuries of beautiful art and tumultuous history on my shabby American ass, but do you have to have Ufomammut too? Tomorrow night, the Italian megadrone trio embark on their latest continental jaunt. Dates from the PR wire are below:

Upon the massive success of Italian doom trio Ufomammut‘s recent European touring on the Eve album — which included Germany, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Austria and more — the band are already set to embark on the next assault through the continent this week. Set to kick off this Wednesday, Oct. 6, Ufomammut will this time invade Spain, France, the UK and Holland, and will return to Denmark and Germany as well in support of the material on Eve.

Ufomammut October European tour:
10/06 Ground Zero – Lyon, France
10/07 Le Baloard – Montpellier, France
10/08 Santana 27 – Bilbao, Spain
10/09 Le Barouf – Cholet, France
10/10 Le Ferrailleur – Nantes, France
10/12 The Croft – Bristol, UK
10/13 The Star and Garter – Manchester, UK
10/14 Fighting Cocks – Kingston Upon Thames, UK
10/15 Baroeg – Rotterdam, Holland
10/16 Magazin4 – Bruxelles, Belgium
10/18 Molotow – Hamburg, Germany

Italian trio Ufomammut are the best drone doom band in the world. There, I said it.

Months after the fact, I still hear something new in their latest album, Eve (released through their own Supernatural Cat imprint), every single time I listen to it, and where so much drone feels bent on keeping the listener as far from the action as possible, Ufomammut engulfs your ears, and your mind, in torrents of undulating psychedelia, brutalizing repetition to the point of near-madness. By the time you come around to the conclusion of Eve‘s five tracks, you can’t believe only 45 minutes has passed, the album has had you so hypnotized. It’s like going through a wormhole.

Comprised of singly-named guitarist Poia, bassist/vocalist Urlo (both also handle synth and sundry noises) and drummer Vita, Ufomammut also operates as a graphic arts collective under the moniker Malleus, and their unique visual style has become a lasting part of the stoner/doom aesthetic over the course of the last decade, doing album covers for bands like Nebula, Baby Woodrose and Bongzilla and posters for even higher profile acts like the Melvins, Robert Plant, The Cure and the Roadburn festival, where Ufomammut laid waste to a crowd hungry for more in 2009.

But more than anything, Eve feels like the culmination of where Ufomammut‘s progression over the course of their five albums (plus one collaborative improvisation record with countrymen Lento) has been leading. Its creative expanse accommodates both huge riffs and minimalist noise, sounding like a transmission from whichever planet is about to destroy our own while also remaining memorable and loaded with sonic pummel. It is one of the best albums of 2010 and no one out there does what Ufomammut does better than Ufomammut does it.

After the jump, please find enclosed my email Q&A with Urlo, who explains some of how Eve came together and what inspired his band to take on such an ambitious project in the first place. Enjoy.

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