You know you’ve been listening to this shit for a while when you start seeing bands named after some of your favourite albums. Y’know, like the Polish band Dopesmoker or Dopethrone from Montreal. Hell, there’s even an outfit named after the Truckfighters tune Desert Cruiser—though I guess that one shouldn’t be such a surprise. In any case, this Swedish trio takes its name from the title of Ufomammut’s sophomore effort… and if there’s one thing I know, I loves me some Ufomammut!
Much like an Ufomammut platter, this five-track album sees its song lengths stretch from 6 to 17 minutes. With “To Wonder” Snailking starts us off with some downtuned clatter fitting of the band’s namesake, before veering off into post-metal territory trod by Neurosis, Amenra… or, again, by Ufomammut. The heavy, sticky riffage just past the quarter-mark leads to some slow, sleepy head-nodding, with an extra-thick, resiny coating for max relaxation. This is my kinda Monday-morning hangover music, maaaaaan!
The equally lengthy (11 min) “Premonitions” is even crunchier off the get-go, as the vocals kick in immediately. Again, this track has a slightly Neurosisian feel, although it does tend to drag on a little more than its predecessor, and I’m not a big fan of the death-doom growls that come in on a couple occasions. The much shorter (6:32) “Slithering” lives up to its moniker, a snakelike piece of post-sludge that strikes early and often with lumbering riffs and venomous vocals.
More than just a mere afterthought, the 17-minute “Requiem” is perhaps the biggest piece of Ufomammut worship on here. Starting off with rushing water and ringing guitars, building into a slow, mellow, repetitive riff pattern that eventually fades into nothing, as the notes ring out and reverberate for several seconds. We’re a good five minutes into this thing before the first heavy sludge riff hits, and it really packs a wallop, lumbering low and slow across several stanzas. Vocals are coated with extra spitshine, alternating between throaty bellows and (relatively) clean wails. Suffice to say, this one is going nowhere fast… but when it comes to post-sludge, it checks all the boxes.
