Steel Mammoth - Radiation Funeral [Full Contact/Ektro Records - 2011]“Radiation Funeral” is the fourth full-length from finnish band Steel Mammoth (which features members of both Circle and Digitaalimiehet), released in a limited to 500 LP edition by Full Contact/Ektro Records. As soon as you see the hallucinated skull on the cover art, you know how it will sound: retarded extra fast rock and roll punk metal. There’s great metal titles like “Endless Wolf” or “Blitzkrieg Elder” that reek of beer-fueled laughs in drunken, foggy recording sessions and i'm ready to guess that it's exactly what happened. The album lasts a little over 30 minutes which obviously is the golden ratio for music. Steel Mammoth have it all: motorhead-driven rock and roll speed, sabbathian riffs coupled with bells tolling, 80s thrash metal vibe, and ugly shrieking and gargling vocals. The finns don't even try save one bit of sweat: “Radiation Funeral” skydives in a sea of booze and barbaric blood at top speed from start to finish, with just a couple of obsidian, doomy and sabbathic introductions thrown in for good measure. Every grain of the sound is taken directly from the ashes of 80s thrash metal records and the riffing is always fist-pumping and just plain good fun. Vocals are maybe the only weak point of the album in my opinion. They sound too “new” and a bit out of place in the mix of sounds. Anyway it's not anything that prevents the enjoyment of this tasty offer to the gods of rock and roll. Needless to say, the only right way to listen to this LP is: gallons of cheap beer, sweat stains on the same shirt you're wearing since high school, farting, belching out loud and head-banging in approval on your couch. This record is great fun and I challenge anyone not to raise their fist, bang or at least bob their head at least once along the whole set. It’s perfect for guys that are starting to feel old and long for that light, warm, fuzzy feeling they get from listening to the metal records of their fading youth. Hang in there buddies! Nicola Vinciguerra
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