Mamuthones: Mamuthones

Mamuthones, along with their counterparts the Issohadores, are among the participants in the traditional masked carnival celebrations in Mamoiada, a municipality near Cagliari in Sardinia. Mamuthones the musical project is itself a mask of sorts for Alessio Gastaldello and Marco Fasolo, members of Jennifer Gentle, the Syd Barrett-inspired Italian psych-rock band from Padua in the north of the country. Also along for the ride on this self-titled third album is Maurizio Boldrin, a veteran drummer with experience in many bands.

The result is an explicitly experimental and very European record combining rock and ambient music, as well old and new material. The 62-year-old Boldrin contributes “MJ74”, a twinkling and hypnotic ambient piece he originally recorded in 1974. The album’s seven tracks are divided almost equally between this kind of amorphous material and trippy, disorienting rock like “Ota Benga”. Laced with droning guitars, creepy whispered vocals and unpredictable drumming, this is an uninviting and mildly disturbing album likely to appeal only to fans of ’70s experimental rock and Euro-horror soundtracks.