Reviews: Mammoth, Black Satellite, Delilah Bon, Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts (Matt Bladen)

Mammoth - The End (BMG)

The End is the third album from Mammoth, and it's got a lot of similarities to songwriter/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Wolfgang Van Halen's recent touring partners Creed, as well as Alter Bridge and Tremonti too. This is due to Wolfgang's band being involved in tours with these acts and that this album was again produced by the long-time collaborator of Wolfgang and those other bands Michael “Elvis” Baskette. 

The End is his second album under the Mammoth banner, third overall and he picks up where he left off on Mammoth II, performing everything himself, and while his skills as an instrumentalist, mainly guitarist and bassist let's be honest, The End is him growing into his role as a vocalist with tracks such as The Spell showing how much he's gotten slicker since that first WVH record. 

His songwriting is also more expansive, with the grooving I Really Wanna as Happy takes a psychedelic grunge route, while Better Off is packed with attitude and Something New almost nicks a riff from ABBA. The title track is a definite single with a double tapped beginning that will inspire thoughts of his father and a video directed by Robert Rodriguez, it's the one song on this record that screams (Eddie) Van Halen. 

However Wolfgang isn't relying on his heritage, the change to the name Mammoth was a clear indicator of this on the last album. With this one he's showing that he can hang with the big boys of the modern rock/metal world while also flexing his creative muscles. 8/10

Black Satellite - Aftermath (Self Released)

Black Satellite are vocalist Larissa Vale and guitarist Kyle Hawken and they have been bringing gothic industrial noises from the mean streets of New York City. 

They've toured with the likes of John 5, Nita Strauss, Cradle Of Filth, Wednesday 13 and Fozzy, so have been honing their style of industrial metal with some of the best around and even have paid tribute to Peter Steele previously with some Type O Negative covers. So with all that hopefully give you an idea what to expect, it's edgy, gothic, mechanically metallic and full of thumping electronics (Downfall), giving you some grooves you can grind to. 

Aftermath is their second album, produced by the band and Kane Churko while Ben Grosse mixes, to make it pound your eardrums from the sneering Broken. The band have said that this is a darker album than their last few, dealing with the different headspaces the band were in while writing. The record is actually fifteen songs long so, you're in for the long ride when you press play on this but you don't a lot of bang for your buck. 

The vocals sneer on Don't Remind Me, Bleed For Me, but the emotion comes with Far Away and Void while the guitars/instruments bring some differences. Kill For You and Doom Or Die both have some big heavy riffs as Kyle Hawken bringing angular melodies to Imperfectly You and Aftermath. 

A great record of guitar driven industrial music from this New York duo. 8/10

Delilah Bon - Priceless Princess (Self Released)

The champion of those that are non-binary, the LGBTQ+ community and anyone who has ever felt like and outsider in the modern world. I'm probably the worst person in the world to review this record as a straight white male, however I've always been a supporter of all marginalized communities (as a bit of a liberal snowflake).

So I'm totally in awe of everything Delilah does with her music and her activism. This is about the music though and Bon uses hers to disrupt, provoke and this EP and all of her music for that matter, is for "every girl or woman who’s DONE being told to stay quiet, sit pretty, and wait for a prince". 

Doubling down on this early with the title track, the blend of nu-metal and hip-hop, takes aim at the "fairytale" depiction of women, Bon encouraging girls and women to take their lives into their own hands and flip the bird to the outdated gender roles. 

Dragon brings more hip-hop explosiveness, rapid fire vocals and a throbbing bassline, while Cinderella turns the aggression of internet trolls back at them, threatening and violent, it's the most dangerous track on this EP but also the best. Composed and performed by Delilah in it's entirety, Priceless Princess is another collection of strikes at the patriarchy through brilliant musical mastery. 8/10

Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts - Troubled Paradise (Gypsy Rose Records)

I've been covering Tuk Smith for a long time now, from his time in the punky ruffians Biters and now his current incarnation as a Nashville based songwriter and rock n roll troubadour. 

He's been through the ringer emotionally and musically, now paying homage to 70's rock era, I've compared his current act The Restless Hearts to Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, creating his music from a more honest place than before, a track such as Sadie Mae bringing Petty, through Def Leppard, through The Faces. 

The Nashville music scene having a positive effect on Smith for a while now, Love Don't Live Here Anymore for instance has that lovelorn acoustic balladry the area was built on. While Runnin' With The Wild Ones is full of Mott The Hoople, the title track takes from The Darkness, The Struts and future tour mates Danko Jones. 

Music that fights against the processed, plastic, disposable music that is so prevalent, taking things back to when music mattered. Tuk Smith is now in a good place and this EP is brims with old fashioned rock n roll. 7/10