Wilderness Heart (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

Black Mountain takes the back roads to find their impressions of classic rock. Led Zeppelin influences are recognizable on “The Hair Song” and in the acoustic flow of “Radiant Heart”, but the band’s true touchstones are obscure psychedelic rock albums and early ‘70s druid-folk and heavy metal, along the lines of Deep Purple. Amber Webber and Stephen McBean collaborate on vocals that turn things into quite exciting trips. Synthesizers accentuate the creepy duets on “Radiant Heart” and organ adds to the Black Sabbath-Deep Purple crank of “Rollercoaster”. “Let Spirits Ride” is Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” taken to new ends. “Buried By the Blues” is an Americanized or Vancouverized version of Fairport Convention. “The Way To Gone,” with its distorted lead vocal, is a crunchy garage-punk tune gone prog-rock. The title track provides more apocalypse before “The Space of Your Mind” and “Sadie” end the album with quieter moments of great heart and emotion. Black Mountain take so many classic styles and twist them into their own voices, capturing a wondrous and loud sound worth exploring at length.