What’s in a number? The eighth album from Ufomammut contains eight tracks clocking in just shy of 48 minutes. (OK, so it’s actually closer to 47). At this point, you probably know what you’re going to get from this Italian trio—a whole buncha heavy, experimental sludge—and in that regard, The Ocho delivers.
We begin with “Babel,” an eight-minute number that combines ringing keys with heavy, crunchy doom riffs. When the vocals finally kick in, past the three-minute mark, they arrive with a verse that’s heavy on the electronics and shows definite shades of Neurosis. The synthesized sounds do seem more prominent on this one so far. “Warsheep” also opens with a glass-cutting synth line, and contains a Hawkwindesque ripple effect beneath its heavy riffs. Make no mistake, this is one heavy vegetable, with a couple rolling grooves that remind me of Sleep.
The previous song segues seamlessly into “Zodiac,” which takes a much noisier approach right off the bat. This one’s kinda like an extended Kylesa cut (nine and a half minutes), but with more distortion in the vocal department. The four-minute “Fatum” sounds more like one of OM’s earlier meditative jams, with the underwater effect from Sleep’s “Aquarian” on the vocals. The next two tracks flow from each other, with “Wombdemonium” being the heaviest offering to date, a lumbering cut of Italo-sludge somewhat akin to their more caustic countrymen in Grime.
No major complaints from me here—8 is a solid 8 in my books.
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