Yamadori is the name given to a bonsai tree that, unlike the common pot-grown bonsai, has been removed from the wild, where it has aged but remained small due to the other natural forces that act it. It’s said that you can feel the connection with nature when you stand in front of a yamadori, where a pot-grown bonsai connects you with the person who created and sculpted it. A yamadori needs time to take root in its new environment and begin to grow before you can start to impress your own influence on it.
Bear the Mammoth, a Melbourne third-wave post rock / progressive instrumental rock band, has released their first album, named Yamadori, although the cover art suggests that instead of becoming pot-bound, they are seeking freedom from connections to established sounds and clichés. While some of these remain, there is as much in common with the more recent work of Alright the Captain and the Sydney sound led by Meniscus, as with the likes of Explosions in the Sky or God is an Astronaut. It’s a case of whether this zebra is a white horse with black stripes, or a black horse with white stripes. Whichever way you hear it, there’s no mistaking its use of contrast as it changes from a gallop to a canter, from a walk to a trot, or just lies down in the dirt, rolls around and snorts.
Each member of the band has come out of the shadows for this album, You could already hear the confidence growing on their EP compared to when I first saw them play as a relatively new band. But they have reached the next level with Yamadori as they take turns in the limelight, showcasing some stirring bass lines, solid riffs and mesmerising noodling and tremolo. There’s also some great guitar manipulation and it’s really hard to tell whether many sounds are guitar or synth. But I’m most taken by Chris Lobo’s work with the sticks. He brings a post-metal philosophy with huge variation, dynamics and capacity for restraint and subtlety that’s missing from so many post rock bands.I won’t say I’m involuntarily compelled to airdrum along as I am when listening to Russian Circles, but I love what he’s doing.
The music is dynamic, uses silence well and provides some mighty crescendos, and in general there’s not so much stark or sudden variation within the songs as between them, despite their length. Instead, the changes in feel during the songs are more gradual, like the walk of a caterpillar stretching and contracting. Good controlled use of repetition builds and releases tension.
The exceptions are ‘What’s Yours Was Mine is Never Leaving’, being divided into two halves with the second bouncy and proggy, and ‘Hieronymus Bosch', which has four distinct segments. Borrowing heavily from the chiming guitar of Dan Oreskovic and bass groove of Alison Kerjean from Meniscus, this second song is a killer as the heavy rocking transforms to a couple of minutes of mathy, loopy drumming, guitar and bass before the first two parts combine, followed by more chiming guitar with massive, deep guitar and bass underneath.
The album was recorded and produced by Melbourne favourite Nao Anzai, known for his studio work with Laura and many other local progressive acts and is usually found at a sound desk somewhere in a Melbourne live venue. I understand his catchcry is “just a moment”, and he really does get the best out of the guys on this album.
Australia is producing a variety of quality instrumental experimental rock and metal bands, opting for quality rather than quantity. Each has its own distinctive elements in their style and Bear the Mammoth are no exception, building a sound that’s technically interesting, at times playful and that throws in a few surprises without stopping this album from being something you can listen to in a range of moods and environments, whether that’s with full attention or as a soundtrack to your Sunday afternoon. Yamadori truly has seen the band uproot themselves and spread their wings.
