Black Mountain

Black Mountain is Matthew Camirand, Stephen McBean, Jeremy Schmidt, Amber Webber and Joshua Wells. Their debut self-titled record, like a space probe built of erector set parts and transmitting secret and arcane messages to earth by string, charts territories unknown yet remains grounded by the roots of classic rock and roll. It is easy to discern these roots: Black Sabbath, the Velvet Underground, the Rolling Stones, Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin and Can. Stephen McBean's vocals are a smoother, bluesier amalgam of the voices of Neil Young, Mick Jagger and perhaps a James Brown loaded on cough syrup. Amber Webber's vocals are something other-worldly and, by itself, almost incomparable. When their voices intertwine, the combination brings to mind the potency and chemistry of Richard and Linda Thompson singing together on Shoot Out The Lights, or of Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley howling together on Bat Out Of Hell.

Black Mountain are the front line soldiers for the Black Mountain Army, an arts collective from Vancouver, British Columbia, featuring members of The Pink Mountaintops, Jerk With A Bomb, Sinoa Caves, and Blood Meridian. Their debut self-titled full-length record may well be the Pied Piper that takes us all back into the primordial mountain, where our hearts can be made steady and our minds can be set free. It brings to mind - as does this Druganaut single - Animals-era Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Neil Young and a James Brown on a liberal dose of cough syrup.