BLACK MOUNTAIN - In The Future (2008) + Black Mountain (2005)

[padrak]

Voe: 2005

Genre: Psychedelic Retro Stoner Rock

Tracklist:
01. Modern Music
02. Dont Run Our Hearts Around
03. Druganaut
04. No Satisfaction
05. Set Us Free
06. No Hits
07. Heart Of Snow
08. Faulty Times


Spielzeit: 46:29




Voe: 2008

Genre: Psychedelic Retro Stoner Rock

Tracklist:
01. Stormy High
02. Angels
03. Tyrants
04. Wucan
05. Stay Free
06. Queens Will Play
07. Evil Ways
08. Wild Wind
09. Bright Lights
10. Night Walks


Spielzeit: 57:22


With artwork that seems to bridge the epic span between the luscious fantasy landscapes of Roger Dean and the tiling of the fellow who finished up the gents at Camdens Koko haunt, even before disc is removed from its housing all signs point to something less than regular, an album at odds with the mainstream its makers seem set to court so soon.

Black Mountain  the most public face of the Vancouver-based Army of the same name, a collective of likeminded musicians with amps set to nerve-stun levels and guitars possessed by wailing blues ghouls  have been busy since the release of their self-titled debut in 2005. Constituent individuals have ploughed furrows at alternative tangents under a variety of guises  Lightning Dust, Pink Mountaintops, loads more  and the band itself, a five-piece at its core, has seen a song of theirs grace the soundtrack of a Hollywood blockbuster (Spider-Man 3; I havent seen it) and a stadium-filling four-piece invite them out on tour. And with Chris Martins seal of approval branded clearly for internet browsers to see, chances are this is the album to propel Stephen McBean and company into the publics eyes and ears, albeit primarily by way of tipped hats from higher-profile artists.

Even without such peer group acclaim to fight its corner, In The Future is an album worthy of lauding beyond the boundaries of standardised analytical process; additionally, any dissection into influential puzzle pieces, named or not, would equal a great disservice. Its a record that seeps and slithers, not bothered about making a strong first impression and preferring instead to reveal its facets over the course of a few weeks, gradually winning trust with a sequence of spins, each more appealing than the last. If left to play idly in the background its a record that can be largely ignored  blasts of squall conjured from the lowest level of whatever hell power c(h)ords go to when they expire separated by gulfs of tenderly textured slow-motion meanderings; when engaged at an angle most personal, though  an empty train platform, headphones loud, wind on neck  it erupts, rampant organ lines bucking beneath repetition-driven guitars crunching their way into memory banks with all the subtlety of cow herding with a tank. Cells, like livestock bred en masse, expendable.

Stormy High, released last year as a single stateside through the Suicide Squeeze label of Seattle, opens this second full-length in arresting fashion, although for its impact to felt truly volume must be raised to neighbour-disturbing levels. Note: do not play In The Future while nearby residents are settling down for the evening news. Rambunctious of tone, and playful of arrangement without ever collapsing into an asinine assimilation of psych-rock clichés (as so many acts of this genre can), the songs pace is immediately at odds with its tracklist successor, Angels, which neatly showcases Black Mountains more leisurely loquaciousness. Thats not to say theres too much going on; merely that the clear vocals serve to split the thick fog manifested by synapse-clogging expressionism elsewhere on In The Future.

Tyrants is a calculated epic  paced to break free of languid thud-thwack shackles at the exact heartbeat, howls from Amber Webber prickling the skin like a leap into a freezing pool from a burning outcrop  yet later in the album Black Mountains control over their regularly properly reined cacophonies comes unstuck. Bright Lights is either the most brilliant song theyve ever recorded, or plainly the most ridiculous depending on your attitude towards multi-stage song cycles placing fate in the hands of might-be improvisation. Lyrically nonsensical, borderline at least, though it is, the tracks eventual detonation is one of the most brilliantly blissful sounds youll hear on a modern rock record this year. Four minutes into sixteen: bang. The organ fires up, everything bolts from the shadows and into a million burning flashbulbs in the blink of a stoners eye. Not quite immediately, then; but pretty swiftly.

The songs a vortex, sucking you deeper into places the loner shouldnt venture without a friendly hand to hold; all the while youre never sure if its better to resist or to freefall, air guitar along regardless who sees you from across the great divide. Six and a half minutes in: all reluctance to indulge has waned from the warring decisions, and consumption is complete. This is where Black Mountain win you  win me  and the moment In The Future reveals itself to be one of 2008s first great albums. After such a splendidly out-there tributary of an album that never flows along a well-followed route, the closing Night Walks can only sound lacklustre. Its really not, but comparatively it lacks the dynamic distemper of its direct sequential forerunner.

Through ragingly volatile highs and purposely sluggish lows  more ups than downs, literally and critically  Black Mountain surely show off their greatest recording achievement to date here. Plaudits for In The Future have been anticipated since a good many weeks back, and the above words merely comprise part of a feedback file bulging with dribbling praise, but no back-slapping isnt without warrant. This is a wonderfully zealous experience, bristling with realised potential and fulfilled ambition. It is the necessary next step, a marked movement towards whatever the mainstream is today; all thats needed is for the wider world to wake up to Black Mountains superlative wig-outs and drift away on clouds entirely of their own minds making. Heady, heavy, stuff. (Quelle: drownedinsound.com)

Persoenlicher Nachtrag:
Das ich ein grosser Fan von 70s Rock bin, ist fuer euch nichts neues. Alle meine Lieblingsbands stammen aus der Zeit. Black Mountain marschieren geradewegs in diese Top 10, falls sie dieses Niveau auch mit dem beruehmten 3. Album werden halten koennen. Die Kanadier spielen eigentlich "nur" 70s Retromucke, aber mit einer solchen Extraklasse, dass ich aus dem Staunen nicht herauskam. Sogar fast poppige Nummern wie "Queens Will Play" koennen begeistern. Die uneingeschraenkte Testpflicht gilt also fuer alle Fans von guter Rockmusik.

Meine Wertung: 9.0/10 / 9,5/10

Hoerbeispiele: http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain