Twenty-five years is quite a bit of time for anything, including being a band. That’s a long time for your sound to grow and evolve into different directions that you never could have expected when you first started out with the best bands absolutely taking advantage of such opportunities. As one of the very best, Ufomammut’s vast array of talent has been building steadily over the decades with their sound and approach all but trademarked at this point. With their tenth record, Ufomammut sought a shift in their sound to go for something that’s distinctly different but nonetheless a true creation of Ufomammut.

When you become as prolific as an act like Ufomammut, it can be quite tricky to try and figure out where you want to take your sound next. Having become modern icons of what it means to deliver doom metal with loads of influence from the differing realms of psychedelia, sludge, and stoner music to make practically each album one unique experience after another, such a decision on where to head next can be quite decieving. Oftentimes, though, the most natural choice is the easiest choice. In the case of Ufomammut when they sat down to craft “Hidden”, they opted to travel down a wondrously heavier path that offers a substantial bounce that only further pulls the listener into the mythos that Ufomammut has been putting together for twenty-five years now. Every given aspect of “Hidden” stays true to the original spirit of Ufomammut that we’ve all come to revere with the riffs, the attitude, and the expertise all come together gloriously to make damn sure that these six tracks do more than just live up to the reputation of its predecessors in no less than top form. Overloaded with hypnotic power, “Hidden” is a change of pace for Ufomammut that is a real privlege to lay my eyes upon with the impending release of the record something we should certainly mark our calendars for.

As modern icons of the sound, it’s always tempting to initially write-off any new effort from Ufomammut as a work that demands respect and adoration, but few things can ever prepare one to investigating the new work in question and just witnessing how consistent and reliable Ufomammut is even after all this time when it comes to pumping out excellence. For all that’s done in “Hidden”, Ufomammut has tapped into a particularly lively part of their sound that I personally hope they explore more into, but if not, then this as been a tremendous and wild side-step in Ufomammut’s grand adventure through doom-related excellence that will continuously put them at the top of the food chain.

“Hidden” releases on May 17th via Neurot Recordings

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Hidden” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ufomammut on Facebook here.