Mammoth - 'The End'

Rock Metal Machine
2 hours ago
2 min read

Every once in a while, you receive an album that ticks all your musical boxes.

Red silhouette of a burning figure on a yellow background. Blue text "mamoth" at top left, red text "THE END" at bottom right.

Every once in a while, you receive an album that ticks all your musical boxes. Writing a review becomes easy, and the hardest decision you must make is how many superlatives you will throw at it in your final prose! Well, dear reader, this is mine, as Mammoth’s third album is sublime!

I’ve been a fan of Wolfgang Van Halen since the release of his debut album in 2021. Over the span of his output so far, he has greatly impressed, not only in his playing of all the instruments, which is superb to say the least (I mean, come on? Did you really expect anything different with that surname!), but also with the progression in songwriting and showmanship. With ‘The End’, he has upped both again, and the result is ten melody-laden Hard Rock tracks that will have you beaming from ear to ear, playing air guitar, and bouncing your head in time with the lush tunes caressing your musical senses.

As the gentle opening of ‘One Of A Kind’ gives way to pulsating guitar work, you’re on a ride with Wolfgang, and he has no intention of letting you go once he has you. It’s a full-throttle number that seamlessly transitions into the title track and prolongs the harmonious riffs, landing knock-out punch after punch on your ears. The ride continues with ‘Same Old Song’, and with this opening trio, you can hear the progression he has made - there is more confidence in this material, and it shows with a more relaxed yet harder-hitting delivery.

The journey expands with ‘The Spell’, which is infectious due to its hooks and features some blinding guitar. ‘I Really Wanna’ is Mammoth just saying it as it is with no pretenses; he sings what other people only dare to think and it’s so refreshing! This attitude snakes throughout the album, but peaks beautifully in ‘I Really Wanna’, ‘Happy’, and ‘Better Off’.

Lasting under forty minutes, ‘The End’ hits all the right notes, leaving you wanting more. As ‘All In Good Time’ fades, you’ll want to do just one thing: hit the play button and start the rush again!

Please ignore the “son of Eddie Van Halen” tags that still unfairly follow him. He is Wolfgang Van Halen. He has earned the spotlight, free from family comparisons, and his third album is a musical delight that deserves your full, undivided attention!