Originally planned for release last year, the fourth album from Welsh progressive doomsters MWWB (formerly known as Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) had to be delayed after guitarist Paul Michael ‘Dave’ Davies suffered an almost life-ending Covid-related stroke from which he is still recovering. Recorded before his illness, The Harvest (New Heavy Sounds) finally sees the light of day but due to lockdown restrictions in place at the time, the Wrexham five-piece was reduced in size for the recording, the band losing guitarist Wes Leon, and bringing in Black Moth drummer Dom McReady to fill in for regular sticksman James ‘Carrat’ Carrington.
Heading into the pitch black unknown, the trippy keyboards and synthwave vibe of intro ‘Oblok Magellana’ light the way in a fusion of colours and interstellar atmospherics which continue behind the huge, lumbering Black Sabbath riffs of the title track. Jessica Ball‘s vocals ripple and flutter, sheathing the harder textures of the song in a rich, ambient warmth. Second instrumental ‘Interstellar Wrecking’ is pure John Carpenter mood lighting which leads to the fuzzy distortion and ethereal vocals of ‘Logic Bomb’, the cyclopean riff reminiscent of one of the music cues from sci-fi classic The Black Hole while Stuart Sinclair‘s bass becomes more prominent during a celestial middle section.
‘Betrayal’ finds John Carpenter challenging Pink Floyd to a neon-lit ’80s synth duel while the towering riffs of ‘Altamira’ look down on all below, Ball’s silky voice gliding dreamily over the monolithic rhythms with one of her best vocal performances to date.
‘Let’s Send These Bastards Whence They Came’ is another cosmic keyboard dalliance, a single figure repeating with increasing layers, sparkling and pulsing with more Pink Floyd energy reinforced by bass, drums and Mellotron. ‘Strontium’ is a nine minute Sabbathian monster of bluesy solos, lurching Cathedral style riffs, more galactic keyboard atmospherics and diaphanous vocals while ‘Moon Rise’ is a stripped back closer free of drums and bass guitar, Ball in exquisite form, sounding like a stage performer in a David Lynch movie.
Progressive and experimental, each track of The Harvest flows smoothly into the next, creating a conceptual piece not entirely dissimilar to Pink Floyd classic Dark Side of the Moon. Ethereal atmosphere becomes inescapable pressure as riffs hit like asteroids, piercing the Moog and Mellotron-filled blackness. Slip on a pair of headphones, relax and enjoy a perfect escape from the currently depressing state of Earth.
Buy the album here: https://mammothweedwizardbastard.bandcamp.com/album/the-harvest
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK