Interview by Miriam C.
Even if this interview was supposed to be released few months ago and I deeply apologize for the delay with both the promoter and the band, I would like anyway to introduce to our readers this amazing Welsh doom metal band that efficiently mixes mysticism and sci-fi thematic. Their last and third album “Yn Ol I Annwn” was released back on March via New Heavy Sounds Records. On top of all, their last LP features lyrics in their native language only. Thus, as tradition wants, Femme Metal Webzine went digging.
Hi Jessica, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. How life is going and how are you?
Thank you for having me! Life is going wonderfully thank you.
First of all, do you mind to introduce a little bit Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard to our readers, how the band come up and when everything was started?
Sure. We have all been active in our little music scene in Wrexham over the years in various bands and projects. We all mix together in our town so it was only natural that we would end up playing together. It initially started as an instrumental 4 piece, with myself on bass. Vocals weren’t even a thought back then! We just wanted to make some doom-y crushing soundscapes. I think that is still the path we are on now, but with vocals over the top too. Our band now consists of myself on vocals and synths, Paul Davies on guitar, Wes Leon on guitar, James Carrington on drums and Stuart Sinclair on bass.
On the 1st March 2019, it was released your third album aptly named “Yn Ol I Annwn”. I’m cognizant of the fact that your new full-length is the third part of your trilogy which began back in 2015 with your debut “Noeth ac Anoeth” but for who is not familiar with it, would you like to analyze in depth by offering us a glimpse about the thematic of this trilogy?
Initially on our first record, we were so wrapped up in it that we hadn’t had much thought to the future. It was only when we received the positive attention (and a record deal!) that we came up with the concept of a trilogy. The title “Yn Ol I Annwn” translates to “return to the underworld”. We like to think that the albums play nicely in a loop from the end of this album and into our first album “Noeth Ac Anoeth”. If you also notice the artwork, the distinctive “snowflake” that appears on the front of our album covers evolve with the music. From the first being more of a primitive symbol, to the last being more developed.
I’ll be straightforward by asking you, which was the goal(s) that you meant to achieve with new release and which the main connection that we can find between this and the past two albums?
I suppose our goal for this album has been the same as the others: make an album we all love and explore the new sounds and influences we’ve found along the way. I feel we’ve achieved this goal. I’m sure our experimentation stands out throughout all the albums and this will continue to happen in future!
I don’t mean to sparkle any criticism, right now, and although I love the idea to record and promote cultural awareness by using your native language in the title albums, don’t you think it can be a little bit of a limitation for the outsiders?
I’ve never heard over the years anyone feeling isolated or pushed away because we use Welsh titles. If anyone truly feels that way, then unfortunately that is their problem. As far as I’m concerned, if you can say “Tchaikovsky” then you can learn to say “Noeth Ac Anoeth”.
Besides all, I can perceive a tremendous musical evolution in this new album and how you manage to successfully “embracing full on space rock, atmospheric film soundtracks, melancholic acoustic interludes, psychedelia, cosmic moog’s and percussion”. How did this happened?
We all have our different influences and it’s so much fun to experiment and play with them. Nothing is forced and this mixture of styles happened quite naturally. We didn’t set out for a particular sound, so it is effortless to maintain our experimental tendencies.
I would like to spend a couple of words about your brand new single “The Spaceship of Ezekiel”. Which kind of insight you can partake with us about this song?
“The Spaceships of Ezekiel” is based on a book of the same name written in 1974 by Josef F. Blumrich. It was named by our guitarist Paul and his love for 1970’s sci-fi. Our other guitarist Wes is also an alien fanatic so it is a big part of our influence.
Shifting my focus on the cover album, can you define which is the correlation between it and the songs contained in “Yn Ol I Annwn”?
As I touched on earlier, the album cover correlates with our evolution as a band, rather than a direct tie to just this album. This is where we make the listener enjoy the trilogy as a whole. To enjoy the evolution of the music and the artwork over all 3 albums.
So, Jessica, we’re almost at the end and with this please be free to say hi to your fans and our readers. Thank you so much for this interview!
Thank you so much! It was a pleasure to chat to you today and a special thank you to the zine supporters and music listeners who make this all possible and keep the music scene alive!