Black Mountain (ReVINYL Edition)

Black Mountain, the front line of the Black Mountain Army arts collective from Vancouver, British Columbia, make music that embraces complexity, ambiguity, and a welcome dose of madness. Their songs feel like an invitation back into the primordial mountain, where hearts steady and minds open.

Their debut, Black Mountain, lands like a homemade space probe sending strange transmissions home by string. It’s rooted in classic rock and roll, with clear echoes of Black Sabbath, Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Can.

Stephen McBean sings in a smooth, bluesy style recalling Neil Young, Mick Jagger, and maybe James Brown on cough syrup. When Amber Webber joins him, the chemistry brings to mind Richard and Linda Thompson on Shoot Out the Lights and Meat Loaf with Ellen Foley on Bat Out of Hell.

Part protest song, part pop-cultural commentary, part sick-groove-rock casserole, the record moves from Modern Music to the towering Don’t Run Our Hearts Around, before the sludge-rock centrepiece Druganaut locks in the album’s tone.