Mama Doom — Ash Bone Skin N Stone

Mama Doom

Ash Bone Skin N Stone

by Shea Higgerson at 01 September 2021, 8:57 PM

With MAMA DOOM’s release of “Ash Bone Skin N Stone” comes a deep dark, creepy, sexy sound that blends synth, shock rock, and doom metal. The album begins with “Batshit Crazy,” which is a heavier synth-y version of a party rock song. Vocalist D. Lolli repeats the sentiment that she is bathshit crazy throughout the song, portraying herself as a badass rocker chick who is not to be messed with. Another vibe I get throughout this album is that the band is a group of party animals and shock horror junkies who like to intimidate the status quo à la MARILYN MANSON or WEDNESDAY 13.

The next song “Vodka” continues this vibe, but with a much sexier, yet still dark, tone. I like this song much better than the first one, especially musically, and I think I got a much better feel for the beauty in D. Lolli’s voice starting with this track. I began to realize I wasn’t a big fan of the lyric writing, however, her voice and the music behind it was intriguing enough that I did want to keep listening. The catchiest song on the album is the fifth one “Oh, Lucifer,”which expands on the synth and doom sounds to even include some grungy elements I enjoyed. There was a particular lyric that really stood out to me: “Doesn’t matter where I go when I die ‘cause I got him on my side, I got time on my side.” I also felt like at times that the music sounded disorienting, which I found extremely fitting for the overall theme and feel of the band and the album as a whole.

I was beginning to think that although not my typical preferred style of rock and metal, I kind of dug this album right up until “Slither” began to play. “Don’t play with a snake, if you don’t want them to slither,” is a lyric that while delivered and sung very beautifully, doesn’t make much sense. For the most part, I just didn’t enjoy the lyrics or the chorus of this song. I can say that I appreciate the sentiment that “Misogyny’s gotta go.” The album didn’t end on a good note for me with “Cherry” either. I felt like the song was trying too hard to be sexy and it just sounded messy. At one point the lyrics repeat “I’m gonna pop it,” which I just found to be not clever and kind of tacky. I was such a fan of D. Lolli’s voice and the doom instrumentation that I wanted to like this, but the last two songs kind of killed it for me. With a name like MAMA DOOM, I did expect more doom metal sounds than what was delivered. What I really took away from this album was more of a synth-driven shock rock vibe full of sexual satanic imagery.

Songwriting: 4
Musicianship: 6
Memorability: 6
Production: 7