Ufomammut

support Suma
author AP date 06/10/13 venue KB18, Copenhagen, DEN

Concluding my show packed weekend is a Sunday night gig at the nearby venue of KB18, and as it happens, more stoner, sludge and doom is on the menu. Killtown Bookings seem to have done a fine job at promoting the event, as I am genuinely surprised to find such a sizeable audience here despite the late start and the fact that most people here will likely need to be at work or a lecture in the morning. This negates my expectation that once again, two potentially fantastic bands will have to perform in front of only a handful of people, and satisfied with this not being so, I grab a Stella and squeeze my way near the front to take in the evening's first act.

All photos by Philip B. Hansen

Suma

Suma are a Swedish trio from Malmö just across the Øresund, and insinuate dirty doom as their genre of preference (or more specifically, hallucinatory, misanthropic and noise ridden doom). To me, meaning no offence, this branch of doom has always been the least interesting, as its main selling point seems often to be repetitive, but entirely mediocre chord-based riffs that drag on and outstay their welcome; and sadly, this is exactly what Suma have to offer - during the first half of their surprising one-hour support set. Combine the uneventful nature of much of the music purveyed in the first half with a characteristically static presence, and my eyelids are starting to feel like lead. Fortunately, Suma can count one brilliant drummer amongst themselves in Erik, who takes an almost tribal approach to his tradecraft, as more often than not, and particularly so in the more interesting second half of the band's set, it is his indigenous pounding that proves to be the necessary anchor in otherwise droning songs. This gives Suma's performance a ritualistic feel, as well as a wonderfully entrancing quality. But it must also be conceded that when guitarist Jovan eventually unleashes a selection of howling melodies to pepper the soundscape more, I am instantly more intrigued by the crushing weight and dark atmosphere of Suma's music. It's a decent, and at the very least appropriate lead-up to the headlining band, but Suma might do well do tinker with the order of songs when they play live, so as to inject some of the more textured tracks among the less complex ones instead of grouping them all at the end, and so add much needed diversity to their concert.

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Ufomammut

Italian stoner metal trio Ufomammut sound absolutely monolithic, hands down (and they've picked a very apt name to describe themselves, it should be said); with groovy, down tuned, fuzz-pedal riffs mingling with rumbling bass tremors to lay a thick rhythmic foundation, and a curious looking instrument that has the resemblance of an array of organ pedals providing sampled melodies in… well, Hammond organ style. The band make full use of the translucent white panels at the rear end of the stage to display an assortment of psychedelic visualisations, and add to this an enthusiastic, forthcoming, and surging stage presence to complete the picture: Ufomammut are an excellent live band. Unlike with Suma, the song-writing approach here is much more direct, aided no doubt by the fact that Ufomammut prefer to employ a faster tempo which enables the full extent of their performing prowess to unfold, and with the frequent incorporation of the aforementioned organ sounds into the monstrous wall of headbang-friendly groove blasting out of the PA, Ufomammut manage to capture the 75-to-100-strong audience with nearly instant effect (though some of the people here have undoubtedly watched the band before - potentially at this very venue last year).

I am continuously aghast at just how energetic this thing is, considering the genre with which we are dealing, and despite having to bounce some 25 minutes before the end of their set, Ufomammut manage to create a firm, and extremely positive impression. It would not surprise me in the slightest, if the moniker of this trio was to be found (in small print) on the posters of various European metal festivals next summer - not least Hellfest, whose Valley stage would provide the perfect setting for music such as this. If not, one can only hope that they will continue to grace Denmark with shows as frequently as they have tended to in the past.

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