Beardfish
Mammoth

Faced with the prolific nature of certain stratospheric bands—which will never resort to producing hyper-amounts of four-chord nonsense verse/bridge/chorus/and so on—it begs the question why in the mainstream average "records" are instead released every two-three years, if not more.

The beard fish escapes all of this (along with many other virtually unknown talents); in fact, these four Swedes have been on the road since 2003, always at very high levels. "Mammoth," the sixth effort released at the end of March, is the latest chapter in a saga rich with spectacular and always "new" music. Prolific, we were saying, and from the booklet, we learn that the album was on standby for almost a year. The curiosities of discography...

"Mammoth" begins with the riffs of "The Platform," and we immediately understand that the tones are different from previous episodes: the rhythmic progressions are heavier and the guitars create dark atmospheres, while the general mood of the lyrics (always beautiful, in my opinion) is melancholic. The funny eclecticism of "Sleeping in Traffic pt. II," very Zappa-like, just to be clear, is somewhat set aside, but that doesn't mean we don't find beautiful stuff. Following the open pattern is "And the Stone said 'If I Could Speak'," which, after a four and a half minute intro that introduces all the themes of the suite, starts with a suggestive story of betrayal and massacre perhaps aimed at criticizing the absurdity of certain cults. Two things to note in this track: the sax (real guest star of this album) and the growl in the final part. "Green Waves" reminds me a lot of "Limo Wreck" by Soundgarden but sung "a la Ozzy," and it might be the hardest song I've heard by Beardfish.

Thus concludes this "dark trilogy," barely interrupted by the delicate mellotrons of "Tightrope," a sweet ballad that—while very pleasant—could have been worked on more. An instrumental interlude that could serve as a soundtrack to the Lumière brothers instead introduces us to "Akakabotu," where more technical structures of '70s prog entangle themselves only to vanish into a very fusion chorus led by the aforementioned sax. Giving us the goodnight kiss is my favorite track, which is actually two back-to-back: "Without Saying Anything feat. The Ventriloquist." The first is more upbeat, almost like a prog version of "Uptown Girl," excelling in every virtuoso aspect, while the second acts as a sort of appendix to the album, indeed capturing its melancholy and fades out.

Target hit once again, I would say, with Beardfish delivering a record with complex structures (with each listen, it surprises you with something new) and at the same time accessible and entirely enjoyable.

Key tracks: "The Platform", "And The Stone Said 'If I Could Speak", "Green Waves".