UFOMAMMUT – new single from from the forthcoming MER Redux Series

On the first single taken from the forthcoming MER Redux Series installment “Superunknown Redux“, Italian drone doom art collective UFOMAMMUT present their sizzling deep fried take on SOUNDGARDEN‘s ‘Let Me Drown‘.  More information about this album can be found below. The massive double album has been scheduled for release “Superunknown Redux” on July 14.

The UFOMAMMUT cover track of SOUNDGARDEN’s ‘Let Me Drown’ is now available here:

UFOMAMMUT comment: “Something was happening to underground music at the end of the eighties”, guitarist Poia muses. “It was a time when a particular branch of rock music was becoming more granitic, powerful and real, free from the clichés of classic metal, and inspired by a more raw, punk attitude. Seattle was the epicenter of that ‘sonic earthquake’ and those waves reached the world and also Italy, at the outskirts of rock, at the beginning of the nineties. This storm changed our lives, forever. We were doomed and decided to form a band, inspired by both the classics of rock and by the new bands we began to love. This link with the past made sense. Also, King Buzzo in an interview once said that ‘Nirvana were The Beatles, while Soundgarden were… Led Zeppelin’.”

Urlo adds: “We still remember the first time we listened to ‘Badmotorfinger’, just after it released way back in 1991”, the vocalist recalls. “The riffs, the drums, Chris Cornell’s vocals slapped us in the face. Soundgarden took the rock of that period to a different level.  And with ‘Superunknown’ they reached perfection. It is a unique and unattainable record. We take it as a big honour to have the chance to pay tribute to those giants and open this album with ‘Let Me Drown’, a song that sounds perfect in Soundgarden’s hands. We began to play it as it was, but immediately understood that making the piece too similar to the original wasn’t the way. So, slowly, little by little, we deconstructed it. We tried to understand the spirit of the song, and did our best to transform it into our own vision: a thunderous desperate vortex, inspired by both music and lyrics. Dealing with Kim Thayil’s riffs and Chris Cornell’s voice was a challenge, but also a very interesting, deeply satisfying experience. We think that, at the end, we’ve created a very Ufomammut song with the backbone of a great Soundgarden classic.”

UFOMAMMUT were founded in Italy in 1999 as a trio playing a distinct style of doom metal that has been termed psychedelic doom and doom drone among many other attempts to pigeonhole the band. Their sound is characterised by songs of mostly epic length, heavy riffing that is often hypnotically repeated as well as droning vocals. All eight studio albums from the debut-full-length “”Godlike Snake” (2000) to their latest success “8” (2017) have been critically acclaimed and celebrated by the fans. Live, UFOMAMMUT are visually supported by the video and graphic art studio Malleus Rock Art Lab. Two band members, Poia and Urla, are part of this rock artist collective. The Italian trio has performed at prestigious festivals such as Roadburn, Hellfest, Ieper Fest, Maryland Death Fest, and Brutal Assault Festival among many others and has toured around the globe.

Tracklist “Superunknown Redux”
1. Ufomammut ‘Let Me Drown
2. High Priest feat. Bobby Ferry (16) ‘My Wave’
3. Marissa Nadler ‘Fell on Black Days’
4. Somnuri ‘Mailman’
5. Valley of the Sun ‘Superunknown’
6. Frayle ‘Head Down’
7. Spotlights ‘Black Hole Sun’
8. Horseburner ‘Spoonman’
9. Witch Mountain ‘Limo Wreck’
10. Beastwars ‘The Day I Tried to Live’
11. Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows ‘Kickstand’
12. The Age of Truth ‘Fresh Tendrils’
13. Marc Urselli’s SteppenDoom feat. Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), Igor Sydorenko (Stoned Jesus), Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven), Albert Kuvezin (Yat-Kha) & Utelo ‘4th of July’
14. Dozer ‘Half’
15. Darkher ‘Like Suicide’

Rising at the end of the 20th century, SOUNDGARDEN were loud, heavy, genuine, and unaffected by whatever was cool.  Their mix of weighty power, soaring melodies and punk sneer made them ideal standard bearers for the grunge movement, but their towering musicianship and intelligent songcraft helped them transcend the era and remain iconic far beyond their origins in the Seattle scene. Arguably their finest and most comprehensive statement, “Superunknown” was the album that launched them to global mega-stardom. It contains some of the most lasting, meaningful, and heaviest songs they ever wrote.

“Superunknown Redux” presents new takes on all fifteen tracks from the seminal SOUNDGARDEN album from some of the loudest, coolest, and most eclectic bands across rock and metal today, along with a few less heavy but absolutely captivating contributions. 

Along with “Superunknown Redux”, we also present our “Best of Soundgarden Redux” companion album, offering up another 15 all-time classics and deep cuts from across the rest of the grunge gods’ extensive catalog.

The Magnetic Eye Redux Series features hand-picked classic albums from across the history of rock and metal re-imagined in their entirety from start to finish. Artists we love from within and outside the heavy rock landscape choose tracks to make their own, bringing these milestone records into the new millennium with crushing heaviness and searing energy. To date, we’ve produced Redux editions of PINK FLOYD’s “The Wall”, HELMET’s “Meantime”, BLACK SABBATH’s “Vol. 4”, HENDRIX’s “Electric Ladyland”, ALICE IN CHAINS’ “Dirt”, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, which have included artists like RED FANG, MATT PIKE, PALLBEARER, THE MELVINS, ALL THEM WITCHES, KHEMMIS, ASG, SUPERSUCKERS, ZAKK WYLDE, MARK LANEGAN, RUBY THE HATCHET, and many more amazing artists.

Tune into the seventh foray into Redux territory as Magnetic Eye Records and friends pay long-due respect to the Seattle legends with “Superunknown Redux”.

Release date: July 14, 2023
Style: Doom, Stoner Rock & Metal, Psych Rock et al.
Label: Magnetic Eye Records

Shop
http://lnk.spkr.media/soundgarden-redux

Formats
“Superunknown Redux” is available as  a gatefold marble red and black vinyl 2LP, a gatefold white vinyl 2LP, and a gatefold black vinyl 2LP, and as a Digisleeve 2CD.