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Album Reviews : Yanomamo – Maggot

By on March 27, 2013

1448851826-1Fans of down-tuned, slow and heavy sludge look no further; Sydney’s Yanomamo have released a debut EP that has melded their influences from bands such as the like of Eyehategod and Iron Monkey in to a style that contains elements of Sludge, Stoner, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Doom styles, and is sure to have fans of the genre banging their head in approval.

Kicking in with the sound of a short country styled acoustic guitar passage, the title track and opening number “Maggot”, smashes in to life with the pained shrieks of the bands vocalist Anthony Von Grimm, from there on it’s all about dirty, downtrodden riffs, a hard hitting rhythm section and screams that carry a distinct southern flavour. The 9 minute plus “The Age of Water” takes lead from the opening track beginning slow and heavy, before a groovy stoner styled riff kicks in and breathes some life in to the track. This makes for an even bigger impact when the band finally returns back to their ultra slow and heavy styling’s, to the sound of Von Grimm screaming the title lyrics of the song.

“Yanomamo” begins with an ultra groovy bass line, which rolls on to a swinging sludge riff. The vocals for the first half of this track are more reminiscent of a more rough around the edges Liam Cormier (Cancer Bats) as opposed to his style in previous songs, the track closes out to a more upbeat, almost psychedelic riff which proves to be a nice change of pace. The low end bass department gets another workout in the closing track “Baphomet” with another cool intro featuring prodimetely the bass and drums, with some spoken word samples over the top. The track itself is another slow burning and abrasive number, but they do keep things interesting enough to hold interest throughout the 9 minutes. Especially with the groovy drum and bass breaks that happen a few times throughout the track.

The sound on ‘Maggot’ is rough and unpolished, which is exactly how a band of this style should sound when laid to tape, and a cassette tape is exactly what you’d get if you wanted to get your hands on a physical copy of this EP also funnily enough. A small bit of trawling through the band’s Facebook page uncovers that they are only releasing copies of this EP at their live shows in the form of a cassette tape. Although for those maybe looking for something a little bit more technologically advanced, fear not however, as the band also has this EP available to purchase and download from their Bandcamp website.

In short Maggot is a more than decent introduction to the scene for Yanomamo, a band that is no doubt suited to be heard on vinyl (which I’m sure we’ll see released in the future at some point), and seen destroying small local venues. A must check out band for any fans who like their music heavy, slow and abrasive!

Band:  Yanomamo
Album: Maggot
Year: 2012
Genre :  Sludge/Doom
Label: Von Grimm Records
Origin: Sydney, Australia
yanomamo.bandcamp.com

Tracklisting:
1. Maggot
2. The Age of Water
3. Yanomamo
4. Baphomet

About

In his spare time, between being a slave to the grind, contributing to MetalObsession.net and hitting up as many local/international gigs as possible. Gareth also contributes to Dutch based metal-zine MetalRage.com, books the odd show under the Inherit Earth moniker and plays drums for Sydney-based bands Whisky Smile and Swamp Harlot.