Mammoth // The End // Album Review

So here we go once again, Mammoth are back with their latest release ‘The End’ which lands this coming Friday, October 24th.

Mammoth at this stage is well established, but for those yet to dip their toes into his majestic sonic ramblings, Mammoth WVH is the son of the late, great Eddie Van Halen. His solo project came after the passing of his father and opened up a new chapter in the life of Wolfgang Van Halen.

With that out of the way, Mammoth landed his debut album, Mammoth WVH, in 2021 and followed that up in 2023 with Mammoth II. We are back today and a little excited to see where Mammoth is heading after two blistering albums that rocked the socks off the rock and metal world on their release. Mammoth WVH was one of my personal favourite albums of 2021, and I am looking forward to seeing where this young man is going to take us through his sonic musings over the next few decades.

The End, a dubious title, I must say, opened with ‘One Of A Kind’, which has definite Foo Fighter vibes running through it —not a bad thing at all, but a great opener that breaks you in gently and gets the juices flowing about where we may go next! As it is, it is to the album’s title track and lead single ‘The End’ where WVH stretches his musical muscles with a killer tapping intro and a killer riff/hybrid picking technique that has baffled many a YouTuber trying to figure out how the hell he does what he does with that stellar technique. It’s just one of those memory muscle things I reckon that comes so natural to WVH but we all need t work our asses off at to try and emulate. The song’s gnarly, has that signature Mammoth vibe throughout, with its soaring choruses and a stunning fusion of the technical brilliance he possesses and his delicious songwriting style.

From here, we are into unknown territory to see how Mammoths’ songwriting has developed over the last few years. They always say it takes a lifetime to write your debut album, but those sophomore and follow-up albums come with the pressure of the success of that debut. No such pressures show here as the album digs itself into your brain like an earworm. For me, the beauty of the whole project is the glorious guitar work. Being a bedroom warrior myself, living my best life vicariously through albums such as these, I could only dream of writing riffage as tasty as Mammoths. The fact that he, to this day, records the whole album himself, playing all the instruments, just blows my mind. Especially given the music’s high quality, the album is packed with bangers; it would have been hard to choose which tracks to release as singles. So, for those who have been on a Mammoth journey, there will be plenty of his DNA wrapped up in it to keep you happy. Still, equally, there is a slight diversion in the vibe of the first two recordings that tells me that Mammoth is indeed stretching his musical vocabulary and pushing his own boundaries with his latest songwriting to say “you’re gonna need ot keep an eye on me, these are not the droids you are looking for.“

From start to finish, this is one banger of an album, rammed with slamming riffs and hooks that every fish should fear. Mammoth has done it again; the quality seems to flow from his pores so freely that we should trust the process and await the arrival of his next gem when we are both ready and deserving to receive. In the meantime, you mortals shall have to wait till Friday to get your hands on ‘The End’. I, myself, being a god among men, shall press repeat and enjoy it all over again.

‘The End’ lands this Friday, October 24th, courtesy of BMG.

The End Track Listing: 1. One Of A Kind 2. The End 3. Same Old Song 4. The Spell 5. I Really Wanna 6. Happy 7. Better Off 8. Something New 9. Selfish 10. All In Good Time