The growth that Wolfgang Van Halen has seen as an artist over the past five years has been incredible, as each of his albums has refined and remolded his approach to everything rock. Under the name Mammoth WVH, the first two releases paid tribute to Wolfgang’s father’s work through the band name as well as the numbered approach for 2023’s Mammoth II but stylistically it set itself apart with an emphasis on 90s and 2000s adjacent hard and alternative rock. It also helped that the material found the sweet spot between huge radio friendly hooks and more technical performances, giving a nostalgic yet fresh energy. Two years later Wolfgang has returned with The End and dropped the WVH from the band name, fully embracing the Mammoth namesake and making it his own. The End is the shortest effort to date, coming in at a lean thirty-nine minutes, but over the course of ten songs it becomes clear that the songwriting has been distilled down to its most potent level yet.
With only one song that cracks the five-minute mark, it’s clear that the emphasis on The End was to focus on stand-out riffs and solos without stretching things out too far. Opener “One Of a Kind” is the longest track the album has to offer, but it still moves at a brisk pace and gives time for an extended intro and outro outside of the standard verse/chorus structure. It’s the type of high energy opener that sets the tone for the rest of the material, offering a booming chorus alongside some more subdued moments. The title track then kicks the energy up another few notches with flashy shredding guitar work and much weightier instrumentation that straddles the line between hard rock and heavy metal. Even with the shorter track lengths Mammoth packs a lot of variety from song to song, sometimes going for a more distilled 2000s hard rock/post grunge sound, while others have more of a blues rock or mellower alternative rock slant. This isn’t a huge shift from what Wolfgang offered on the last two albums, but it does feel like there’s more of everything and every rock style has been explored further. The piano on “Same Old Song” also deserves mention, as it’s a subtle inclusion but captures a bit of classic rock ‘n roll into the modern sound. The End does have a few moments where the compositions are very similar constructed, but compared to the last two albums Mammoth it’s not as frequent.
Wolfgang continues to handle all aspects of the music himself, and while a lot of attention has gone to his skills on the guitar and drums his vocals are an area that shouldn’t be overlooked. The singing has this nice balance between mellow and rougher edged, allowing for a lot of the choruses to soar while retaining some grittiness during key moments. It reminds me of a slew of different hard rock singers from the 2000s, with a hint of some stoner rock. Closing track “All In Good Time” even skews a bit more towards the pop end of the spectrum, with much airier harmonized singing. Like the instrumentation, there’s a little bit of something for everyone based on what type of rock they like. Mammoth continues to get bigger and bolder on the vocal front with each album, and The End showcases how far things have come.
On album three Wolfgang Van Halen has things almost down to a science, trimming any excess that previous material had and giving listeners a memorable and varied experience. There are still just a few tracks that feel a bit too similar, but the consistency from start to finish does make this another must have for rock fans of all types. Mammoth nails that perfect balance of radio friendly hooks and flashier writing, and by album three it’s become clear things only continue to get better and better. The End is available from BMG.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg