Year Zero: The Original Soundtrack

As the soundtrack to a \"postapocalyptic surf film,\" *Year Zero* doesn\'t evoke memories of The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, or Jan & Dean, but rather a heavy metal/industrial pop band working through its angst. Nearly half the album features previously released material. \"Wilderness Heart\" is the title track to Black Mountain\'s last studio album, from 2010. \"Bright Lights\" (edited from 17 to 13 minutes) and \"Tyrants\" (cut by a minute) are from 2008\'s *In the Future*, while \"Modern Music\" is from its 2005 self-titled debut. As for new material, \"Mary Lou\" sounds as if the world is opening or ending until it breaks into a brutal, pounding rock \'n\' roll track reminiscent of Sonic Youth. \"Embrace Euphoria\" creates a synth-influenced dirge where the narration sounds particularly ominous, courtesy of Amber Webber, who handles vocals on the new tracks. \"Phosphorescent Waves\" initiates a space-age druid folk music heavy on synths and growling fuzz-drenched guitars. \"Breathe\" drifts into shoegazer territory, presenting a gently glazed pop song for a closer.

Black Mountain’s Year Zero soundtrack is nothing less than the band’s full, balls-out glory distilled down to one dense, 45-minute acid tab of music. Featuring five new songs and four previously released songs, the Year Zero soundtrack weaves crunching, analog psych metal; futuristic droneouts; and, somehow, a twisted saxaphone ditty.

Combining edits of their best songs with five new pieces, the Vancouver psych-rock band offers a nine-song soundtrack for the post-apocalyptic surf film Year Zero.

The new Black Mountain album is only partly that. Although marketed as an “original soundtrack” for Year Zero—a post-apocalyptic-themed surf video, not to be confused with the Trent Reznor-orchestrated album/alternate reality game/forever-in-the-works science-fiction epic of the same name—the nine-track record…