Review Summary: It’s not bad, it’s just different
After five years without a new release,
Fenice marks the return of Italian stoner icons Ufomammut. This latest album sees the band adopt a bit of a new approach (alongside a new drummer), even as many cornerstones of the group’s approach remain the same. All told, Ufomammut have risen from the ashes of a defunct lineup and the pre-Covid world stage like the phoenix which forms the record’s namesake (Italian to English Google Translate is cool, guys).
Anyone who has heard any of Ufomammut’s previous nine (mostly revered) albums has a decent baseline for what the band’s style is, even if the group has shifted here and there over more than two decades of music-making. Their droning stoner sensibilities, at once repetitive and heavy as lead (although that last phrase might understate things), have remained a constant, along with a penchant for well-crafted songs and occult vibes.
Honestly, nothing in the last paragraph is wrong, per se, in describing what the listener will encounter on a cursory listen to
Fenice. It is, indeed, drugged-out, ominous, and bone-jarringly powerful. Upon first listen, though, a listener might be inclined to see the album as a more limited version of the band, “diet Ufomammut”, if you will. Indeed, it is true that this record isn’t especially heavy by the band’s standards (even if it will still crush the skulls of mere mortals at times), and there are stretches here which prove (relatively) accessible.
Further listens manage to flesh out Ufomammut’s intentions here, though, and the results prove rather compelling. The band’s music has always had some overtones of post-rock/post-metal to it, but
Fenice sees the group hew more closely to the mainstream of those styles than before, and, frankly, it’s rather refreshing. This impression is furthered by the fact that the album’s first two songs are fully instrumental, including an over ten-minute long behemoth of an opener. Said opener, “Duat”, is worth a mention, beginning as it does with several minutes of noisy stasis which would grow highly irritating if it went on much longer, before emerging into an absolutely captivating build-up. It’s a track which Cult Of Luna or any other flag-bearer of the post-metal camp would be proud to claim. Later stretches of
Fenice see Ufomammut leaning more into their traditional bread-and-butter, but there’s still a sense of a varied sonic journey, of ebb-and-flow, which maintains the early feeling. There are also some gripes to be had, as closer “Empyros”, while punchy, doesn’t quite achieve the grand finishing act I’d hoped for, and a few of the album’s other varied moments don’t quite come together, but overall
Fenice stands as a worthy return for genre legends.
It’s rather notable that this is Ufomammut’s shortest album. In fact,
Fenice barely surpasses the halfway mark of the duration of several of the group’s more sprawling previous efforts. On its face, this is concerning, particularly given the album marks the collective’s return after a lengthy absence. In reality, though, brevity suits
Fenice quite well. This isn’t a perfect album, but it’s an enjoyable piece which offers fans a different side of the veterans’ signature sound in a digestible package.
