Review Summary: Ecate offers a streamlined, thrilling summary of where Ufomammut has been so far. For long-term fans, that palpable sense of adventure might be missing.
Ufomammut are a metal trio from Italy. Of all the music I have ever listened to, no band’s name and sound match each other better than theirs. As good as “Radiohead” is at capturing a sense of millennial paranoia, or “King Crimson” at implying a sense of magic and majesty, “Ufomammut” (literally translating as “UFO mammoth”) is a one-two punch conveying something spacey and futuristic, but at the same time primal and monolithic.
Since their lo-fi 2000 debut Godlike Snake, the band has been juxtaposing bonecrushing riffs with progressive rock-inspired ambience and experimentation. This approach has produced some truly stunning records. Though their songs pack visceral punch, Ufomammut’s celestial atmosphere elevates them above their metal contemporaries. Ufomammut doesn’t conjure images of bearded metal guys playing instruments so much as demons shaping lava with their hands, of aliens stalking the surface of distant planets, of ghosts shrieking in the depths of space. Dramatic, yes, but that’s what they're striving for.
An album inspired by the Greek goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, this offering feels like a spiritual successor to Eve, their 2010 concept album about the Fall of Man. By drawing inspiration once again from the realms of mythology, Ufomammut imbues their already momentous sound with a sense of the ancient.
Opener “Somnium” breathes to life with apocalyptic synth textures, not unlike those heard on Ufomammut’s ego-shattering “Lucifer Song” a decade past. Slowly woven into this hellish soundscape are tribal drum rolls and subterranean guitar riffs. Three minutes in, these riffs explode through the crust of the earth. Suddenly, “Somnium” becomes something violent and volcanic. These shifts between brooding and explosive are frequent on Ecate, showing a dynamism few other metal bands seem to offer.
As with every Ufomammut release, Ecate flows like a space opera. It can, and should, be listened to as a full experience. However, highlights can't help but emerge, such as the cavernous slow-burner "Chaosecret", and the skull-shattering closer "Daemons", which continues the band's tradition of monolithic finales. From the first sci-fi tones of track one, to the haunting keyboard coda of track seven, this is an eventful suite of songs that will maintain your attention, and handsomely reward it.
So why only a 7/10 rating? My qualm with this interstellar voyage is that it doesn’t go anywhere the band has not already ventured. A sense of deja vu sets in early, and haunts most every song here. Each mouthwatering riff or starry texture on Ecate pleasantly recalls material from a previous Ufomammut release, rather than offering any real surprises.
If you come to Ecate expecting it to be a singularly heavy and psychedelic experience, you will not be disappointed. Though there’s no harm in treading water every once in a while, Ecate lacks the epiphanic quality that made albums like Eve and Snailking so transcendentally good.
For a newcomer, Ecate will offer a streamlined and thrilling summary of where Ufomammut has been so far. For long-term fans, it will certainly deliver, but that palpable sense of adventure is missing.
