So we’re back for round two of “When is a band actually a solo project?” which it is for Wolfgang Van Halen when it comes to Mammoth WVH.
Recorded at the legendary 5150 studio, the album was produced by friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette. Wolf played every instrument, but more importantly, he’s stretched himself as a songwriter, singer, and lyricist.
His live shows supporting the likes of Alter Bridge, Guns N’ Roses, and Def Leppard (he’s arguably got more in common with the former of the trio I mention) are a band affair, not here. And Wolf’s vision is fully realized here.
“Right?” Wilfully it seems, plays with the arena rock stylings; there’s a kind of latter-day Soundgarden thing going on – or at least there would be if it wasn’t genuinely heavy.
You see, your man Wolf, he’s not bothered by what should be, just what is. The pulsing, huge hook of “Like A Pastime” offers “there’s more than just one end to this,” and you feel he could have gone anywhere, done anything.
I mean, to that end, there’s the utterly sublime, cowbell-drenched “Another Celebration At The End Of The World,” which has more hard rock energy, more sleaze in its lead guitar than you can shake your 80s patches at. Or then there’s the wonderful radio-friendly riffing of “Miles Above Me.” But whatever they do, wherever they go, these songs are joined together by one thread: their total class.
There’s just an innate, ingrained perhaps, ability to make these tracks sound enormous. “Take A Bow” does things on a grand scale, but it’s not contrived; instead, it’s natural.
The bass on “Optimist” could shake the foundations to the absolute core. The harmonies are stacked high, and if you called the wonderful “I’m Alright” polished, then it says “Thanks very much.”
“You wanna know how” he sings in its verse “I got the know-how?” The best song here (and that’s a huge accolade as the album is so damn good) ends with him saying “fuck off and let me breathe,” and is that his journey. Like, we know the weight the family name carries. But let the boy do his own thing?
If it is, then it is sensational.
Across the album, you look for ways to describe the sound. Because although it proudly believes it belongs in arenas, it’s not conventional arena rock by any manner of means. The anger in “Erase Me” is clear, and “Waiting For You” is essentially pop music, epic yes, but proud to do an alt-rock thing that explodes in its chorus. It’s made to find a home in an HBO blockbuster, that’s for sure.
If that’s a kind of take on balladry, then the last one, “Better Than You,” touches the downtuned realms of grunge.
Yet its chorus is telling: stronger than you, smarter than you, better than you. He probably is too. Records as good as this don’t get made otherwise.
When I reviewed his debut in 2021, I said: “Mammoth WVH” is the sound of someone finding their voice and with it, their place in the world. And it was. With “II,” though, he’s played with the formula, spread his wings, and created a masterpiece.
Rating: 9.5/10
