Sydney’s Amammoth isn’t just playing stoner metal, they’re dragging it through murky waters and launching it into the void. On Distant Skies and The Ocean Flies, the trio dials up the sludge by leaning into themes of deep-sea mysteries and extraterrestrial intrigue while keeping their sound thick, crushing, and hypnotic.
Building on the weight of The Fire Above, the album moves in a darker and heavier direction. The riffs hit like massive and slow moving tidal waves while the rhythms push and pull like ocean currents. The contrast between the punishing guitar work and eerie, spaced-out atmosphere makes for an album that feels both suffocating and strangely expansive. Tracks like “Among Us” and “Sink or Swim” ride that line perfectly by locking into menacing grooves before unraveling into something far stranger.
Vocally, Scott Fisher brings a scorched intensity that cuts through the haze. His gravelly delivery doesn’t just add to the aggression, it amplifies the unease and reinforces the album’s fascination with the unknown. Amammoth expertly balances heaviness and eccentricity throughout the album by showing gritty and sludgy aggression that surpasses the drowned-out, interstellar trippy ambition.
From its suffocating low-end to its otherworldly themes, Distant Skies and The Ocean Flies is a statement piece and is heavy in every sense of the word.
