BLACK MOUNTAIN

1. Mothers Of The Sun precise intro as we dream it, this repetitive ouh, this soft flute, this warm, languorous organ, this divine voice of Amber; a prog crossover nay a good stoner rock yes for the mantra sound and voice; the guitar leers at the MONKEY3 or vice versa, sublime; 8 psychedelic minutes with Hammond, Mellotron which pass without realizing it with the return of the divine flute, me who doesn't usually like that 2. Florian Saucer Attack with this 70's psyche side, yes it's confirmed, a sound that the WHITE STRIPES will undoubtedly like with Warren on vocals; it moves, it's rock, it's full, it's danceable and the crazy-crazy clip à la 'Heavy Metal' reassures me in their trips 3. Defector sets off on an airy electro rock space that's a bit vintage by the sound of the instruments, not by the tune played, dynamic 4. You Can Dream...it's all written; you can just take the air, still very electro-melancholy-monotonic; when electronic music meets stoner, or when TANGERINE DREAM meets ORESOUND SPACE COLLECTIVE; stunning and catchy, monolithic and hypnotic 5. Constellations changes completely with a punchy rock air embellished with a heady and slightly redundant riff.

6. Line Them All Up acoustic guitar on a delicious voice, from the days of FLEETWOOD MAC for example with a choir sampled in the distance to add to the languid spleen state; a grandiloquent side emerges with an aerial psyche 70 drums 7. Cemetery Breeding is more of an intimate folk rock, an ounce of synth with SPARKS to pleasantly clash, a de facto pop-song piece where the voice is raw 8. (Over And Over) The Chain for the second slap; end of the world atmosphere, a pure, simple but terribly effective sound again on the Berliner school (that's why I like it!); a stoner prog rock mantra rears its ugly head from the 3 minute mark, over and over and so on; the guitar twisting like TANGERINE DREAM and the flight takes off; the finale returns to the origins, stunning and completely psychedelic, magnificent with the Hammond and the Mellotron, 9. Crucify Me with a reverberant sound, search that finds a raw guitar arpeggio, hold it raw like that of an LED ZEPPELIN yes you get it; solemn air reminiscent of the SIGUR ROS a time for sound and voice glossolalia before taking off; the fat synths swell and amplify the vocal murmur; its vintage today, innovative, progressive paradox continuing on 10. Space To Bakersfield and its 3rd musical caviar; soaring organ, yes the PINK FLOYD psyche are not far away but the air is very recent; a dreamlike crescendo soaring and progressively stoner, an orgasmic build-up with ethereal voice-overs; the finale gives on touches of SPACE with the disco synth on the guitar; gorgeous.

Black Mountain has been around since 2004 and has been making quite a name for itself, despite some line-up changes. They have released 1 EP, 5 full length albums and a soundtrack over the years. Their fifth album "Destroyer" was released in May of 2019, and has seen a major reset in the band.

While on tour for their previous album "IV", the band's equipment was stolen, and that seemed to be the demise of the band as both founding members singer Amber Webber and drummer Joshua Wells decided to leave the band when this happened. This left only Stephen McBean as the sole founding member of the band. Stephen started working with old demos and different riff ideas and started recruiting other musicians to help him out. At this time, Jeremy Schmidt, who was part of the band's previous album, started putting together synthesizer parts to go along with this, and suddenly Black Mountain was reborn. Arjan Maranda, who was also with the band for "IV" came back to help out also.

Thus, the new line-up of musicians for the album "Destroyer" are founding member Stephen McBean (vocals, guitars); returning members Jeremy Schmidt (keyboards, synths); and Arjan Miranda (bass); and new members Rachel Fannan from "Sleepy Sun" (vocals); Adam Bulgasem from "Dommengang" (drums); Kliph Scurlock from "The Flaming Lips" (drums); and Kid Millions from "Oneida" (drums). Yes, you read that right, there are 3 drummers contributing here. There were 22 tracks that were recorded from the sessions for this album and 8 of those tracks were selected for this album which has an overall run time of just under 43 minutes. The album is available on CD, Vinyl and Bandcamp download.

"Destroyer" was set up to be a quasi-soundtrack to a road trip across the desert and the tracks are sequenced as such. "Future Shade" starts off with the trademark stoner fuzz with a lot of heavy guitar and a solid riff backed by 70's style keys. Stephen's vocals are perfect for the hard-rock, psychedelic sound that the band is known for. Rachel sings in the background and proves her voice to be equal to Amber's, able to provide the high end to Stephen's lower register. There are even space rock effects from the keys later and the track keeps steam boiling throughout. The combination of vocals still give that retro hippie sound that the band was also known for. "Horns Arising" has more of a moderate, yet bluesy tempo and continues with the heavy guitars and synth riffs. The vocals here are processed to have a robotic sound as the music boils along heavily. The sounds contrast effectively. After 2 verses, a rousing guitar solo improvises over the heavy background riff, and soon the vocalists come back with their natural voices this time. Soon, an acoustic guitar calm everthing down and the vocals continue thick with a psychedelic haze over them. The music stays mellow now as synth accompanies the acoustic guitar until the heaviness suddenly comes back and and the track feels more immense and dark during the last minute.

"Closer to the Edge" is a shorter track with the synth providing all of the instrumentation and simple lyrics. Synth layers drive it forward with a drone like quality in the background and various melodic lines around it. "High Rise" starts with a throbbing drum, hand claps and layers of guitars as tension builds and the combined vocals begin. Things get heavier and thicker, approaching a stoner, dark metal sound, but against a fast beat. About half way through, the synths add power to the guitars and you get a thick sound. The sound is similar to Black Sabbath's "Sabotage" heaviness with the added synths. As things get more intense, Rachel's wordless vocals lend to the excitement of everything and then a sudden scary scream from Stephen lets you know he is into it also. This has an excellent retro, hard rock sound. "Pretty Little Lazies" starts off a bit softer, but the emotion is simply boiling under. Soon an acoustic riff comes in, the vocals are less intense here, but the shaking tambourine and symphonic synths remind you of that psychedelic feel again, as if it came straight from the hippie era. Halfway through, things speed up and an upbeat synth pushes the heavy background forward. A crazy guitar riff plays and then everything suddenly shuts down, and the music returns to its orginal sound, but with wordless vocals, continued acoustic guitar and smooth synths with their mellotron sound.

"Boogie Lover" establishes the slow boogie pattern with a low synth and Rachel singing solo this time, with a layer of haze over her vocals to keep it psychedelic. Guitars enter with their riffs, and then both vocalists sing as everything gets more powerful. This is one that you will be tempted to keep turning up louder and louder as the memorable riffs make you want to get your helmet that you keep around for head banging purposes, especially when the drums get wilder in the middle. "Licensed to Drive" begins with plucked guitars and mysterious synths as Stephen sings "Your spirit wheel burnin". Soon, tribal drums build tension up as synths swirl, and a sudden explosion of pounding guitar riff bring back both vocalists in a hard driving track with lot of heavy energy in the guitar and synth layers. "FD'72" closes out the album with a mid-Eastern inspired riff and a slower, bluesy tempo. Stephen's vocals are more pensive against the thumping drum and the lovely synth sound as the music becomes more emotional and desperate sounding, very Bowie-esque.

So, the trademark retro, hard rock sound the band is famous for continues in this album. The main difference here is that the tracks are, for the most part, much heavier and darker, but the psychedelic, 70's stoner vibe is still there. There are songs that have more driving force than before, but there are still enough dynamic moments that the music doesn't get into a stagnant or cliché format, it stays interesting throughout. I have always loved Black Mountain's sound, and it is good to hear that it still has the same vibe, but with an increased intensity. Those that loved the band in the past will continue to love their sound on this excellent album. Definitely also for lovers of stoner rock, psychedelic hard rock and the 70's retro sound.

This is the debut album from the band "Black Mountain", released in 2005. The band leader, Stephen McBean, came from a punk/noise rock background with leanings toward a stoner/psychedelic sound. As he grew in the music industry, his sound matured until he formed this band. The sound is a retro 70's style with alternative and later progressive leanings. The guitars are nice and heavy, the sound is a little dark, and the sound has a great unpolished feel, so it almost takes you back to the late 60's, early 70's era.

There is this really great interaction between the two lead singers, Stephen and Amber Weller, who sounds almost like Grace Slick, but with a unique sound of her own. The music does reflect back to Jefferson Airplane, especially in this first album, but it still feels unique. However, the vocals are at their best when the vocalists sing separately, but the interaction and balance between the singers, many times in the same song, is one of the band's strengths.

Also apparent is songs that are not standard format songs, but have quite a bit of ingenuity to them, keeping them away from the tired and worn out format of verse/chorus structure. The music both feels retro but also current at the same time. It is accessible for the most part, but keeps on the edge of psychedelic throughout the album. The unpolished feel also keeps things very realistic.

On this album, you can hear the beginnings of a really promising band, but it has some weak moments and some meandering sections that might drag a little, but these are things the band would improve on in future albums. They would end up strengthening their good traits, and tighten up their sound on their 2nd album. So, this album might not be the best place to start looking into their music, but it is one that you will want to come back to.

The best part of the album is in the longer, more developed tracks. The songs can be more complex than your standard fare, and that is one of the attractions. The unpolished sound is also one of the things that make the retro sound more believable, and if you didn't know, you would think you were listening to a promising band that never quite made it in the 70s. The highlights here are in the instrumental breaks, and the tracks "Don't Run Our Hearts Around", "Druganaut", "Faulty Times" and the very dynamic "Heart of Snow" which alternates from beautiful and peaceful to harsh and heavy. It is a great album, but with it's share of flaws, so, like I said, try one of their other albums first, then come back to this one.

Wilderness Heart is Black Mountain's 3rd full album. Black Mountain is one of those bands that you think of when someone makes the statement, 'They don't have great rock bands like they used to.'. There are, of course, many great bands out there, you just have to sift through a lot more music than you used to. Black Mountain is one of those great bands that make music as great as the rock you remember from those bygone days. They are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and so on, and if they were around the same time as these bands, they would be holding their own with them.

Black Mountain has two lead singers, Stephen McBean and Amber Webber. They sing both simultaneously and also taking turns. Their voices compliment each other well, and they both have great and distinctive voices that are easy to get used to. The music on this album is very blues based, and you can hear a lot of great keyboards like churning organs (as on 'Old Fangs') and heavy guitars (like on the progressive 'Rollercoaster'), just like you hear in those mega bands of the 70s. You even almost expect to hear Ozzy's voice on the song 'Let Spirits Ride' which is a hard rocker's dream, but then on the last instrumental break, you get surprised with an organ solo a la Deep Purple.

This album isn't quite as progressive as their last album 'In the Future', but it still has enough progressive elements to make it all worth while. Besides, the retro sound is so authentic, you probably won't even mind. 'Buried by the Blues' is a beautiful quasi-ballad with acoustic guitars and mellotron sounding keyboards. This basic sound continues into the next track, 'The Way to Gone', with more of a heavier beat which leads into an amazing guitar solo. The spooky sounding background vocals on this track give it the perfect atmosphere. 'Wilderness Heart' erupts immediately after with a heavy hook and churning bass that will remind you of great stoner rock. Amber's vibrato compliments the song giving one flashbacks of Grace Slick. Even though a little more development in the songs would have been welcome, there really are no weak tracks here, it's just one great track after another.

I make all these comparisons with older bands, but the music is original enough that the tunes are all unique and not merely copycat. The influences are all there, but Black Mountain's music feels like it deserves to be right next to the greats of the classic rock era. This is one band that deserves so much more attention, and they give hope that the best rock ever is still out there. I do wish this album was a little more progressive and that is the only thing keeping it from being a 5 star album, but it is done so well and the music is so enjoyable, that you hardly even notice. A little more development in the songs and longer solos would have been welcome also, but again, this is still a great album with a lot of surprises and quality hard rock that it still manages to get 4 stars.

"For those concerned: There is both guitar and synthesizer on this album" can be read in the gatefold of Black Mountain's fourth album, their first in six years. It sure has a lot of keyboards (mainly Moog, Mellotron and Hammond), but I think there's a really good balance and cooperation between keyboards and guitars.

The album has a very atmospheric 70's Space Rock sound, but also maintains some of the Pop Rock approach that was present on their previous works. It contains slow-building laidback spacey tracks ("Mothers of the Sun", "Space to Bakersfield"), radio-friendly rocker songs ("Florian Saucer Attack", "Defector", "Constelations") , acoustic ballads ("Line Them All Up", "Cemetery Breeding", "Crucify Me") and more cosmic/industrial Electronic based songs ("You Can Dream", "(Over and Over) The Chain". These two especially remind me of Jeremy Schmidt's excellent solo project, Sinoia Caves).

All these tracks have in common (and are held together by) a gloomy mood, which matches perfectly with Amber Webber's vocals. Bonus points to the energic and meditative rhythmic section, the cool psychedelic guitars and the very nice vocal harmonies.

It's a very enjoyable and diverse album with a really good production and a weirdly memorable cover that looks great on vinyl.

4 stars.

Black Mountain's "In the Future" is the place to go if you are looking for a more recent brand of 70's stoner rock. This is a combination of Jefferson Airplane and Deep Purple with shades of Led Zeppelin and grungy style rock that sticks to it's bluesy roots. This is music along the same lines as White Stripes/Jack White and Band of Skulls, but with more progressive leanings similar to Bigelf. Yet, it is not a copy of any of those bands, it is original enough to be it's own style. The feel is a little dark for the most part, and like I said, it remains true to it's blues roots, so it is mostly a slower paced rock. The guitar hooks are authentic and believable, the vocals are in the stoner style. This is great stuff.

This album really develops the sound that Black Mountain was striving for in their debut album, and the band really hits their mark on this album. There is the singable track "Angels", the dark sounds of "Wuccan", the amazing epic-ness of "Bright Lights" which contains a lot of progressive sound and a gigantic organ and guitar combination of soloing that will convince you that you are listening to a real rock band of the 70's, but with an alternative edge. There is the beautiful album closer which features Amber's lovely vocals almost acapella with minimalistic droning organ sounds which is later joined by beautiful harmonics. This is music that will satisfy your hunger for the stoner sound of the early 70s.

It's pretty basic progressive music, it's nothing really fancy or groundbreaking. The most progressive track is the 16 minute "Bright Lights", which actually drags for the first 4 minutes but erupts into retro bliss after that point, and even has a nice space rock sound in the middle instrumental bridge, before the organ and guitar interplay on the last part of the track. The entire album is quite enjoyable however and all of the track contain some very convincing sounds. Also, since there are 3 lead singers in the band, you definitely get a nice variation in the music from one track to the other.

The deluxe edition of this album contains 3 more additional tracks that follow the same trend, and each track could have easily fit comfortably on the regular album. "Thirteen Walls" has a folky sound with guitar that sounds almost like a sitar. This is a definite winner of a track with Amber's voice wailing spookily behind Stephen's main vocals before she joins him in harmony. After that, it breaks into an amazing guitar solo that will leave you breathless. This song alone is worth searching for the deluxe version.

Even though there is nothing groundbreaking on the album, it is still excellent enough to warrant 4 stars. This is definitely a band that was born too late, and I believe they would have been legends if they were around when this music was the popular sound of the day. This is also an album I return to many times when I'm in the mood for something "new" with that "old" sound. These guys should be as famous as the White siblings, but they have been passed over by the public for some reason. Maybe it is a little too retro for some tastes, but I love it. Highly recommended for those looking for new music with the sound of the classics from the 70s. Great stuff.

The first thing anyone who has listened to this band before may notice is that there are only five new tracks present on this 2012 release. Rock bands who have done soundtracks in the past have tended to use mostly new material with the idea of releasing the final result as a studio album as well (case in point, Pink Floyd's 'More' and 'Obscured by Clouds'). The new material here is as strong as any from the Vancouver based psychedelic collective. The recycled tracks also tend to be edits of their original form. For example, 'Bright lights' is brought down to 13 minutes from the original 17. This doesn't take anything away from the song however, which is good as it's one of their best to date. The rest of the music is what you'd expect from the band. There is plenty of heavy guitar work mixed in with the vintage keyboards and heavy drums. For me, as a keyboardist myself, Jimmy Schmidt is the standout performer on the album. His use of a lot of what are now classic keyboard sounds add a vintage sounding touch to the overall sound of the band. He also manages to give the keyboards something of a modern edge which is hard to put to explain in words so I'll just say go listen to it. The other stand out performer for me is Amber Webber. Whether she is taking the lead vocal role or providing a harmony, she manages to transport the listener spaceward. Her voice echoes out over the thunderous guitars and keyboards throughout the whole album. As with all their releases, the guitar work is of a pretty standard psychedelic affair. This is not a bad thing however as its central to their sound. So, with all that praise given, why the low rating? Well by the end of the album, I was left with a pretty strong feeling of d'j' vu. Whilst the new stuff is good, the old stuff makes one question the point in purchasing the album. If you're a fan of the band then get this, if only for the new material. If you are yet to discover Black Mountain, I would recommend an earlier release ('In the Future' perhaps).

One of the 21st century's prime retro-prog movers, Canadian outfit Black Mountain have served up a trio of excellent progressive-and-classic rock aligned albums since their 2005 debut, blending the fuzzy aggression of Sabbath, the cosmic ambience of Floyd, occasional nods to hard-riffin' metal, retro-psych flourishes and a smattering of folksy charm with a slick, sharp and powerful contemporary edge. Of the three it is perhaps 2008's 'In The Future', the group's second studio effort, which features the clearest link to the group's 1970s influences, though all three albums showcase their own distinct sonic personality that marks Black Mountain out as a talented and genuinely multi-faceted beast. Led by Stephen McBean(vocals, guitar) and featuring Amber Webber(vocals), Jeremy Schmidt(keyboards), Matthew Camirand(bass) and Joshua Wells(drums), the group formed after initially meeting up at a Vancouver Methodone clinic where various members volunteered; as of 2012 they still do, McBean commenting that: "It keeps us grounded". After signing a deal with indie imprint Jagjaguwar, the group's eponymously-titled debut was issued in 2005 sporting an eclectic and fairly experimental mixture of styles characterized by the spacey electronica of 'No Hits' and the harsh, dissonant rock of 'Don't Run Our Hearts Around'. An impressive if somewhat uneven effort, 'Black Mountain' nevertheless earned the five-piece many plaudits whilst also cultivating a cult following that continues to grow. 'In The Future', however, found a group growing up and exhibiting real confidence in their sound. A heavier, darker, much more complex affair, the album eschewed the indie-rock undercurrents of their debut in favour of a more progressive sound made up of crunchy guitars, old school keyboards(mellotrons, moogs etc), pounding percussion and the coup-de-grace, Amber Webber's beautiful, Sandy Denny-inspired vocals which meld seamlessly with McBean's strained, smoky tone. Highlights on an album filled with many include the enchanting cosmic crawl of 'Angel', a track highlighting Webber's impressive vocal abilities, the brilliant rolling groove of the highly infectious rocker 'Wucan', and last but by no means least, the pulsating sixteen- minute-long 'Bright Lights' which finds Black Mountain mining four decades worth of rock into one bruising epic that showcases the group's uncanny ability to seamlessly combine the old with the new. And that's just the point. Despite featuring a sound drenched in their love of 1970s prog, mystic folk, sludgy metal and classic rock 'Black Mountain's sound is one that remains wonderfully fresh and vibrant. 'In The Future' is the album that should appeal to progressive rock fans the most, yet both their debut and follow-up release 'Wilderness Heart', which features a slightly more modern approach, are also highly-recommended. A powerful statement, 'In The Future' is the real sound of contemporary progressive rock. And it sounds f***ing great.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

'Wilderness Heart' - Black Mountain (5/10)

The third album from Black Mountain shows the band developing their sound even further. Best described as their 'maturation' record, 'Wilderness Heart' shows Black Mountain really getting their presentation down and consolidating their music, but still, something feels missing here. While 'In The Future' remains the most inventive thing that Black Mountain has ever released, 'Wilderness Heart' shows the band at their most refined, even if it still results in a fairly bland release.

Although the past of Black Mountain has relied mainly on retro rock conventions, 'Wilderness Heart' shows the band really embracing modern rock sounds, although some sounds from classic rock and 70's prog still remain. There are mellotrons, psychedelic samples and exotic sounds that sound like they could have been taken from Led Zeppelin's 'Kashmir' here, all thrown atop some fairly conventional songwriting. Black Mountain was relatively adventurous with their second album, really letting loose with experimentation with the sixteen minute track 'Bright Lights' really coming to mind. Here, Black Mountain has become almost something of a standard rock band that one could hear on the radio, with a few prog sounds thrown in here and there for the sake of good measure. Surprisingly enough, this isn't the worst possible idea for the band, due to the fact that while they showed promise while tugging their psychedelic influences, they never really grabbed hold of it. Here, 'Wilderness Heart' shows the band stripping down, but the presentation simultaneously improves. The vocals are still very twangy and none too pleasant to listen to, but are certainly a step up from the poor Arcade Fire-knock off I heard on the debut.

While it is something of a step forward for Black Mountain, 'Wilderness Heart' also doesn't have the same shock value. There is also more than enough of this sort of radio-friendly rock to go around, and quite frankly, there are many bands that do it better than these guys. The development here is audible however, and it makes one wonder that providing they choose to work out a fourth album, whether or not it will be another step forward for the band.

'In The Future' - Black Mountain (6/10)

After being introduced to Black Mountain through their rather pathetic self-titled debut, my hopes certainly were not up when coming to the band's second album, 'In The Future'. I was expecting yet another series of poorly composed songs and whiny presentation (along with another opportunity to write an angry review), but with their second, Black Mountain has indeed surprised me. I was not expecting some decent stoner rock and competent psychedelic jams, but this is what I have received with 'In The Future'. While still nothing special or standout as an album, Black Mountain has really turned their act around, going from an amateurish indie sound to a much more energetic stoner rock sound that works much better. Nothing particularly impresses me still, but 'In The Future' is a step- hell- ten steps in the right direction for this Canadian band.

With 'In The Future', virtually everything has been improved. Everything from the vocals to the guitar riffs to the songwriting has been upped in quality, and this is much to my pleasant surprise. Besides the song 'Stay Free' (which was featured on a Spiderman film soundtrack, hence the band's moderate fame), there is no song here that leaves much of an impression, instead making for a pleasant, but none too deep listen. 'Stay Free' is probably the greatest point of interest here, seeing as it is the only song of the band's that has met many ears. It is a fairly basic acoustic ballad, with the male vocalist crooning like Neil Young, and for the most part, it works pretty well. Even so, the musical highlight here would probably be 'Bright Lights', where the band tries their hand at 'epic' psychedelia; a sixteen minute jam of sorts that starts out like a Black Mountain typical, but works into a fairly soundscapy freakout from the band. Fairly good stuff.

Maybe the best thing here are the female vocals of Amber Webber, who sounds like a dead ringer for Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. While this robs Black Mountain of any hint of originality (they still revert to a retrogressive rock sound for the most part), Webber's voice has a great vibrato to it, and gives the band more of a nostalgic charm. I am still not entirely impressed by the band's work, but 'In The Future' has certainly saved Black Mountain from being considered a total dud in my books.