Black Mountain - IV
Black Mountain is a Vancouver based hard/prog rock band that has been making great music for 12 years or so. Composed of Stephen McBean, Amber Webber, Matt Camirand, Jeremy Schmidt, and Joshua wells, Black Mountain recently released their fourth album, and it’s a beauty.
This latest tasty spacey morsel is somewhat of a departure and an experimental effort for the band. Although it contains their usual hard distorted guitar riffs, they’ve added more of a synth sound as well. It’s definitely an experiment that didn’t fail. No No, quite the contrary.
I love the mix of Sabbath like guitar mingling with the Pink Floyd like Prog Rock tonality, resulting in a ten track baby who’s first scream bellows like Exene Cervenka and Siouxie Sioux stomping on each others toes, especially obvious in one of my favorite songs this year, “Defector.”
The McBean/Webber harmonies throughout the disc are something special to experience. Reminiscent of the punk band X, they vocally spar back and forth and then at times join in and blend in just a “little bit off”, on the song “You Can Dream” Bam! That’s pure magic, because Penn Jillette said so.
The acoustic “Line Them All Up” shows us just how beautiful Amber Webber’s singing voice can be. She can sing folks.
“Cemetery Breeding”, a synth laden number is a treat for the brain and the ears. The lyrical intelligence of the band is second to none. Jim Morrison said so, (from the grave, creepy). The song can also be described as a thinking man’s Echo and The Bunnyman, if you will.
“Crucify Me” has a certain Alt Country vibe and is saved by the brilliant harmonies from McBean and Webber. Hearing these two sing together is really something special.
The nine minute spacey, dreamy Prog Rock epic “Space To Bakersfield” closes the album perfectly and the instrumental expertise of the band becomes evident on this beauty. Starting off slow, the tune slowly builds in volume and intellectual aptitude, and then after the glow, you are left saying, “Give me more.” But to no avail, the album is done. Darn it!
If you haven’t listened to any Black Mountain, I highly recommend that you do. This latest effort is a good starting off point, as I sense the band’s sound has matured over the past three albums, resulting in their Prog Rock/Sabbath baby growing up and going off the college.
Black Mountain is a must listen for any musical connoisseur that appreciates the finer side of music. It’s definitely a smooth cognac with a razor blade finish.
Black Mountain is appearing live in Saskatoon May 17, maybe I’ll see you there.
