Early Mammal
We were recently sent through a copy of Horror At Pleasure from South London based Early Mammal, a band described as ‘not your average blues, stoner or psyche band’. Started in February of 2012 by Rob Herian, Ben Davis and Deniz Belendir, the guys spent months developing their sound and forging their strengths before deciding that it was time to record their album, the resulting offering we see before us now. Closing their press release with the words ‘all our stories are fucked, Early Mammal is coming and it’s telling you something’, I figured it was time to hit play and check things out for myself.
Opening proceedings with Right Hand the album gets off to a solid start, luring you in with dark guitar work over a bass heavy undertone, it’s a mix which doesn’t give a lot away but sets things in motion, letting you know that this is going to be an interesting journey. It all becomes clear though as Final Witch comes in to take the lead, shifting from the out there approach into a more blues rock orientated style, using the guitars to pack a punch whilst allowing a real sense of blues and melody to creep into proceedings, just to keep it all alive and moving. There’s nothing stereotypical going on here, this is original music with a different outlook on things, resulting in a sound which is new, fresh and exciting, and something you won’t have come across before. Demon Or Saint continues this vibe further, once again keeping things focused around a blues rock approach yet adding in their own unique take on things just to ensure that you still know who you’re listening to. Echoed vocals work around the strummed guitar to give a sense of out there, whilst at the same time keeping that sense of melody flowing through things, it’s a clever mix and one which sets the album up well.
Coming Back marks a change in things here, slowing things down a little and instead moving towards a more chilled out and laid back approach. Using the guitar work to level things out with a sense of calm, this is a track which opens without giving anything away, instead luring you in to listen harder and assuring you that you’ll be rewarded for your time. Serving as an intermediary track between Demon or Saint and To Find Me Gone, there’s a real sense of melodic emotion thrown into things here, something which continues to push the boundaries of what we expect to hear from an album like this. To Find Me Gone changes things completely, this time moving towards a more rock centric style whilst still offering up a unique take on things from the word go. Melodic and catchy in some aspects, this track seems to move between different approaches, not willing to settle down into one specific outlook and instead, jumping around the place. The result though is something which is interesting, unique, and works – which is the most important thing!
Working through Money Shot, Checking The Bullshitter’s Queen, Going Out and Resurrection Men, the album continues to offer up surprise after surprise, each track coming as a unique take on the bands style and offering momentary insight into this mindset. It’s only then left for Uncle Scary’s Left Hand to close things, finishing with another hard hitting and out there track, designed to leave you questioning what you’ve heard, but knowing that it’s been interesting. A fitting close to the album, I don’t know, but it certainly sums up the more innovative approaches on offer!
Early Mammal are a band who have got their own unique approach to music, and the album on offer here is designed to showcase that style, which it does. Throughout it there are tracks which will work as ones just to listen to, others which will make you question what’s going on, and others which will simply make you wonder what you started listening to, yet throughout, the band have managed to make it work in a manner that makes it possible to listen to. I’d be interested to see whether they can perform this sort of thing live as on that front, this could be very interesting indeed!
To find out more about Early Mammal, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening proceedings with Right Hand the album gets off to a solid start, luring you in with dark guitar work over a bass heavy undertone, it’s a mix which doesn’t give a lot away but sets things in motion, letting you know that this is going to be an interesting journey. It all becomes clear though as Final Witch comes in to take the lead, shifting from the out there approach into a more blues rock orientated style, using the guitars to pack a punch whilst allowing a real sense of blues and melody to creep into proceedings, just to keep it all alive and moving. There’s nothing stereotypical going on here, this is original music with a different outlook on things, resulting in a sound which is new, fresh and exciting, and something you won’t have come across before. Demon Or Saint continues this vibe further, once again keeping things focused around a blues rock approach yet adding in their own unique take on things just to ensure that you still know who you’re listening to. Echoed vocals work around the strummed guitar to give a sense of out there, whilst at the same time keeping that sense of melody flowing through things, it’s a clever mix and one which sets the album up well.
Coming Back marks a change in things here, slowing things down a little and instead moving towards a more chilled out and laid back approach. Using the guitar work to level things out with a sense of calm, this is a track which opens without giving anything away, instead luring you in to listen harder and assuring you that you’ll be rewarded for your time. Serving as an intermediary track between Demon or Saint and To Find Me Gone, there’s a real sense of melodic emotion thrown into things here, something which continues to push the boundaries of what we expect to hear from an album like this. To Find Me Gone changes things completely, this time moving towards a more rock centric style whilst still offering up a unique take on things from the word go. Melodic and catchy in some aspects, this track seems to move between different approaches, not willing to settle down into one specific outlook and instead, jumping around the place. The result though is something which is interesting, unique, and works – which is the most important thing!
Working through Money Shot, Checking The Bullshitter’s Queen, Going Out and Resurrection Men, the album continues to offer up surprise after surprise, each track coming as a unique take on the bands style and offering momentary insight into this mindset. It’s only then left for Uncle Scary’s Left Hand to close things, finishing with another hard hitting and out there track, designed to leave you questioning what you’ve heard, but knowing that it’s been interesting. A fitting close to the album, I don’t know, but it certainly sums up the more innovative approaches on offer!
Early Mammal are a band who have got their own unique approach to music, and the album on offer here is designed to showcase that style, which it does. Throughout it there are tracks which will work as ones just to listen to, others which will make you question what’s going on, and others which will simply make you wonder what you started listening to, yet throughout, the band have managed to make it work in a manner that makes it possible to listen to. I’d be interested to see whether they can perform this sort of thing live as on that front, this could be very interesting indeed!
To find out more about Early Mammal, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls