We don’t know about you, but “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH” was the first thought some of us at ABMN had when we received the submission for today’s band, North Carolina’s Lammoth, which, in their own words, play “hobbit black metal”; after all, incorrigible nerds that we are, we have known that Lammoth is a region of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth where Morgoth, the Lord of the Dark, was attacked by Ungoliant the Gloomweaver and let out a great echo of pain… which Blind Guardian, THE nerd metal band per excellence, rendered in their own track “Lammoth” as precisely a huge, non-Orkish WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.
And nerdiness is indeed very present in Tales of Treachery, Lammoth‘s first EP, be it on the lyrical themes and amazing cover (which, unsurprisingly, are about Tolkien’s legendarium, mostly about the saga of Frodo), be it in the sound itself. What do you see when you picture hobbits listening to black metal? Since hobbits usually seek comfort above all, we imagine telling horrible yet hopeful stories around a warm fireplace, with a deliciously warm, yet somewhat bitter soup… a recipe of thickly melodic atmoblack with a pinch of Summoning, a pinch of Moonlight Sorcery, some Vallendusk and videogame-like synths for garnish, and the completely unexpected addition of some pieces of breakcore in the middle that lead this into almost post-rock crescendos at times.
This is the perfect medicine for the EXTREMELY cold winter parts of the Southern Hemisphere are having right now, as well as for anyone who wants to feel hugged in the middle of the multiple crises capitalism is grinding us through around the world, and we really want them to hurry up and release new music, for our appetites are more than open at this point!
⚔️ LAMMOTH ⚔️
BC: https://lammothofficial.bandcamp.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lammoth.official/