Review by Vinny for Ufomammut - Eve (2010)

The band Ufomammut and I have history, as anyone who has read my review of Idolum knows. Coming into Eve, my circumstances are very different. Gone are the nights away from home in hotels and the endless paperwork of the travelling consultant. Now I have more time to listen to music in the comfort of my own home than possibly at any other point in my life, and as such my dalliances with Eve have been from a much more stable and centered environment. That is not to say that there is a lot in the way that Eve sounds in comparison to Idolum, it is just that the experience of it lands differently, if no less positively than its predecessor.

If you are familiar with the Italians already, you’ll know that 2010 was very much the classic line up of the band. Existing as a trio since their sophomore release, Eve was back when Vita still did the drums (as he did until 2020). With a decade of releases under their belts, Ufomammut’s fifth album sounds like a band really hitting their stride. There is not one hint of hesitation in any of what gets performed here. Likewise, for a record that opens with a fourteen-minute track, Eve manages to hold the attention for the whole experience. Playing as on track split over five different headings that are named simply by numerical, chronological title, this forty-four-minute plus opus showcases the Italian’s brand of spacey, psychedelic rock combined with crushing and sludgy doom.

Driven by heavy bass presence and a mixture of haunting and grinding synths, Eve is an all-encompassing experience. Again, it takes me back to my days of listening to Hawkwind (almost inevitably) but there are plenty of more modern references to the metal in their sound with the likes of Sleep and Yob immediately springing to mind. I would usually find the more instrumental approach over such a decent run time an issue, but if I am honest, more vocals just would not work all that well if the band had decided to take a more lyrically expressive approach. This is music that speaks to me without the need for a lot of words and that my fellow Metal Academy students is a sign of a great record.