THE MAMMUTHUS is a Swedish band that plays heavy guitar driven hard rock with everything from blues, doom, and psychedelic rock mixed in with their sound.  This isn't really my style and, honestly, I can't say that now my required listening for reviewing is over, I will ever listen to this album again.  That isn't because it is a bad album (far from it) but it just doesn't fit my personal tastes.  However, THE MAMMUTHUS is definitely a band with their own, unique sound...I would be surprised if there is any band around that sounds just like them.

The way they blend their styles is extremely, and impressively, seamless.  When listening to the album, I wasn't picking apart the Doom moments, hard rock sections, or blues elements. Instead each style blended together as it washed over the atmosphere.  The best way I could probably describe them is a more diverse version of CLUTCH.  They don't really sound like them per say but guitarists Kalle and Mikael have that same solid as hell riff style and share a laser focus for bringing back hard rock but in an artistic way.

Vocally, Jocke has a really solid clean, vocal delivery with a lot of power and diversity behind it.  Their rhythm section, drummer Anders and bassist Rolf, are one two punch to the gut and also a rock solid foundation.  The music is very bass driven and the drums are always there to back that up.  "Green Finger," opens the album well with a mid-paced song chock full of riffs and expressive vocals.  The guitar solo is rather impressive but as good as the riffs are, I wish the song packed more of a punch.  THE MAMMUTHUS have a huge sound but they aren't exclusively metal band-so it is just a personal preference that I just prefer heavier tones with my groove.

"Shine" is a soulful track with a big blues vibe to it, especially in the guitar leads and vocals.  The ending of the song is especially strong, with the drums hammering the sound into the ground and the bass keeping it flowing smoothly. The album hits a bit of a snag in flow towards the end.  The seventh track, "Boom Rats," just didn't do anything for me, perhaps because it ramps up and down too much and too quickly for me.  "Doomsday Vault," has a killer atmosphere to it, a sort of dark old school ballad. However, at just over three minutes in length it doesn't really have time to grow into anything. This song needed a few extra twist and turns with another two minutes or so added.

"Skeleton Dance," ends the album on a high note though.  It has a groovy and hazy psychedelic vibe to it, a modern version of classic BLUE OYSTER CULT or URIAH HEEP. All in all, THE MAMMUTHUS's "Forever Tree," is diverse, original piece of music that needs to be experienced at least once, even if it isn't your style.