Artist - Black Mountain
Album - In The Future
Label - Jagjaguwar
A slightly ironic title for an album that harks so successfully to the past.
In The Future is the second album by Canadian psychedelic rock band Black Mountain, and it delivers huge swathes of the kind of riff-heavy rock Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath once swagger-stomped across the world's stages.
However, it is modulated with a touch of modern psych - think Mars Volta or Wolfmother, and maybe a hint of My Morning Jacket. After Stormy High kicks off with its Blackmore-like riffing and deep Hammond organ thickness, the album moves off in a dozen different directions (sometimes in the same song - Bright Lights, a 16-minute epic is one of those early 70s songs that seem made either for rock festivals or headphone wearers).
Second track Angels is a country-tinged rocker that disarms after the pelvic thrust of the opener, but order is restored when Tyrants' Sabbath assault starts.
Black Mountain are clearly happiest where riffs are meaty and dark, but they keep the album interesting with several changes of pace.
There is a sense that the good stuff is loaded in early into the album - after Stay Free, the album starts to feel like a second side in classic 70s fashion. Which is entirely appropriate.
Rating 7/10
Mike Rea
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