Memento

Since the annual Ozzfest was moved from Cal Expo to Rush Limbaugh’s Favorite Mattress Merchant Amphitheatre south of Marysville, it’s become far less of a local presence. Still, it’s a touring shed show that major labels use to push their latest radio-friendly hard-rock bands, and this year is no different. Typical of this year’s lineup is Memento, a Los Angeles-based quartet with a well-produced debut album on Columbia. Beginnings is reasonably solid. Guitarist Space has the requisite Tony Iommi-issue apocalyptic sludge tone emanating from his amp, and Justin Stewart Cotta is the kind of scenery-chewing vocalist who, if he was an actor, would be called a ham by some and brilliant by others. The album’s quieter, layered acoustic passages show a Led Zeppelin-influenced attention to texture.