In the Future
For their second album, 2008’s *Into the Future*, Vancouver, BC’s Black Mountain continue exploring the variants of 1960s and modern psychedelia that made their 2005 self-titled debut such a head turner. Leader Stephen McBean may direct the band into the pastoral meadows and space travels of early ‘70s Pink Floyd-Hawkwind and some refried boogie on the near 17-minute “Bright Lights,” but elsewhere everything from Procol Harum to Ten Years After to Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie to Mercury Rev are blended into this quintet’s exquisite journey to the center of their fantastic record collection. However, BM aren’t recreating old records, they’re reinventing the atmosphere and vibe of their favorite eras. The basic acoustic folk-pop of “Wild Wind” is given extra dimension with inspired ‘70s-styled Mick Ronson-era electric guitar. “Stay Free” (featured on the *Spiderman 3* soundtrack) recalls the haunting falsetto of the Flaming Lips while charting its own free-spirited course. “Queens Will Play,” “Angels” and the creepy otherworldly closing ballad “Night Walks” illustrate further the group’s ability to channel other challenging dimensions from the simple templates of classic rock.
Favorite psych-and-prog-spiritual pioneers BLACK MOUNTAIN are back with 'In The Future', their second full-length album that resonates with the same epic ring, beloved deep rock touchstones and genuine folk fragility that made their self-titled debut full-length an instant classic. The new album possesses immense breadth, seamlessly showcasing short and classic folk-pop gems along with driving modern rock masterpieces, peaking with "Bright Lights", a seventeen-minute multi-dimensional opus that gives Pink Floyd's "Echoes" a run for its money.
Black Mountain mainman Steve McBean here finds more room for the rest of the band's burgeoning personalities, and the resulting record raises the stakes of the debut considerably, leaving the band's musical talents to play catchup with their new material's epic-sized dimensions.
Black Mountain's self-titled 2005 debut was crammed full of Sabbath-inspired riffs and thick, druggy dirges, and the Vancouver quintet seemed poised to charge Queens Of The Stone Age's stoner-rock castle, unkempt beards flapping wildly in the wind. In The Future offers the same intense, throbbing psych-prog, but with…
The cover to Black Mountain's new record, In the Future, is deceptively retro.