ALBUM REVIEW: Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH

Legacy can be a difficult thing to live up to at the best of times in music, and perhaps no musician in modern times knows that more than Wolfgang Van Halen, son of the late all-time guitar hero Eddie Van Halen. Best known to rock fans for his stints on bass in the final incarnation of VAN HALEN at the age of just fifteen, as well as later on with TREMONTI, the musical prowess of the now-30 year old has never really been in doubt, but it still comes as somewhat of a surprise that we’ve never heard what he can do on his own terms; until now. With a mantle adapted from the earliest days of the band that would later become VAN HALEN, we now find Wolf set to take on the world for the first time in his career as a solo artist with MAMMOTH WVH. 

Of course, arguably the main talking point about Mammoth WVH as a debut album is that every single note on every single instrument is played by Wolfgang himself. Whilst his aforementioned bass exploits are well documented, here we find the polymathic musician not only taking up lead vocals and guitar duties, but also returning to his first love of drums – making Mammoth WVH a solo project in the very truest sense of the term, barring a little help from famed rock producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette once more following their previous collaboration on TREMONTI albums Cauterize and Dust.

It goes without saying naturally, none of that would matter if Wolf couldn’t play each role to an exceptional degree, but play like hell he sure can. Straddling everything from arena-ready US radio hard-rock on the likes of Horribly Right, Don’t Back Down and Resolve (the latter song in particular sharing a certain kinship to SHINEDOWN über-hit Second Chance in the way it soars), to electronic-tinged balladry that possibly wouldn’t sound out of place on the next IMAGINE DRAGONS album on Circles, there’s a real sense of a musician simply exploring as many of his influences as possible across the 13 tracks that make up this album (plus one bonus track, but more on that in a second).

Sadly this leads to arguably the main criticism that has to be levelled at Mammoth WVH as an album though – the length of the thing. Clocking in at just a touch under an hour, and dragging in a few different places, the record simply could have stood to lose at least a track or two, purely to prevent the fatigue that sets in by the time listeners reach its final gambit.

And what a final gambit it is too. As the final strains of de-facto album closer Stone fade, there’s one more surprise to come though, and it’s the song that started it all for MAMMOTH WVH in the public eye. Written prior to his father’s passing, Distance is arguably the perfect coda to Wolf’s first outing as a solo artist, a cathartic and heart-wrenching ballad that sees a young man openly trying coming to terms with the sad inevitability of his father’s passing that, while incredibly difficult to listen to on an emotional level, might well be the greatest triumph of this album.

It may have been a long time coming, but MAMMOTH WVH marks an incredibly promising new chapter in the career of Wolfgang Van Halen, and more than showcases what this young veteran is capable of, packed to bursting as it is with both powerful hook-filled rock songs that already sound tailor-made for the stadiums MAMMOTH WVH will soon be playing alongside GUNS N’ ROSES, and with interesting more-experimental diversions into softer territory that may yet find a wider audience outside of the norm. Either way though, this is a perhaps-expectedly solid debut from a project we can only begin to imagine what comes next for.

Rating: 7/10

Mammoth WVH is set for release on June 11th via EX1 Records. 

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