MAMMOTH STORM is a Swedish Stoner/Doom Metal band; "Alruna" is their second full length album.  They have also released one Demo and an EP.   I'm not sure if the band's name is in reference to a big, powerful storm or is it more literal and they are speaking about a storm that rains down woolly mammoths.  Either way, it is a kick ass name-and as their name would suggest, "Alruna" is a monumental album made up of almost impossibly huge riffs.  They have a sludge edge to their Stoner/Doom riffs too, like early MASTODON or CROWBAR. Much like those two bands, the music is focused on the guitar riffs although every member gets to shine and their considerable weight around.  The band features just three members but the sounds they create would suggest they are a twelve man wrecking crew.

"Giants," begins modest enough but very quickly towers above all like the song's name sake would suggest.  The guitars create as much destruction as a rampaging pack of Kaiju and just as unstoppable.  Especially at a high volume level, "Giants" rampages over you like a raging river.  An almost jam band type quality makes up the first two and a half minutes of the song with every member just playing their brand of Doom to their heart contents.  The vocals eventually kick in and they are as low end and monstrous as music itself.

The title track, "Alruna," is up next; the riffs maintain the balance of face kicking roughness but the drumming here is particularity rumbling.  The bass is dripping fuzz and goes right along with the vocals that ooze out, somewhere between a shout and a growl.  The middle part of the song is about as heavy as anyone could ever want, the audio equivalent of falling off the Grand Canyon and hitting rock bottom face down. There is a slight hint of melody to be found but it only serves to cement the enormity of it all.

"Shores of the Dead," has a much more ominous sound to it than the previous two tracks, which is what I would expect with a title like that.  However, don't confuse that with creepy or middling—the song hits like a ton of bricks that also has a ton of steel on top of it.  The ending is a mass of swirling lead guitar, fat riffs, and a bass/drum combo that just doesn't stop until the last second.  This song is exhausting in the best way.

"Raven Void," is a desolate track with the riffs indeed creating a heavy blackness from which there is no escape.  The middle portion of the track goes quieter for a bit, a somewhat spacey vibe to give us a nice change of pace and brief respite before the riffs return, of which they are some of the beset on the entire album—and this is probably the best track on the album. The final track, "Atra Mors," has a sound that seems to stretch for miles.  It is hard to describe but imagine stretching out a rubber band, but it doesn't ever break-the wider it gets, the stronger it grows.  The lead guitar that crops up after the six-minute mark compliments this aspect well and adds in another dimension to the song.

This is without a doubt one of the heaviest albums I've heard all year, Doom or otherwise.  If you like anything within the realm of Doom, Stoner, and Sludge then I honestly can't understand why you wouldn't love this beast of an album.