IV

by Black Mountain

Overview

Some bands study their influences simply to reproduce their effects, while others strive to learn from them. Black Mountain's trademark blend of hard rock, prog, psychedelia, and a dash of folk drives their fourth album, insightfully titled IV. (Well, it's their fourth album if you don't count their soundtrack to the film Year Zero, and they clearly don't.) Black Mountain have long had one foot firmly planted in rock's past, but on IV they don't sound as if they're caught in a loop of nostalgia. Instead, the band have embraced the stylistic elements of late-'60s and early-'70s smart people's rock, but use them to shape the way they approach the material. The banks of keyboards, the barking report of the guitar, and the occasional drift into the aural cosmos certainly peg the era of greatest influence for Black Mountain. But the group's melodies remain fortunately straightforward, even when the arrangements stretch out to invite the spirit (such as on "Over and Over [The Chain]" and Space to Bakersfield"). And despite the group's obvious psych/prog leanings and fondness for stretched-out jams, there isn't a lot of empty virtuosity displayed on IV. Black Mountain favor texture and drama over instrumental acrobatics, and if the musicians don't aim to impress with their chops, their ideas easily get over on this album. IV often sounds majestically trippy but rarely noodly, and the clear, full-bodied audio producer Randall Dunn brings to these sessions is a perfect complement for the material. At their best, Black Mountain approach '70s rock with a 21st century mindset, and that's the sort of sound and feel that make IV so effective. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	04/01/2016
Label:	JAGJAGUWAR
UPC:	0656605227726

Tracks

1. Mothers of the Sun
2. Florian Saucer Attack
3. Defector
4. You Can Dream
5. Constellations
6. Line Them All Up
7. Cemetery Breeding
8. (Over and Over) The Chain
9. Crucify Me
10. Space to Bakersfield

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Black Mountain   Primary Artist
Warren Hill   Vocals (Background)
Josiah Boothby   French Horn
Eyvind Kang   Violin,Viola
Arjan Miranda   Bass,Guitar,Bass Pedals

Technical Credits

Randall Dunn   Mixing,Producer,Engineer
Amber Webber   Group Member,Composer
Stephen McBean   Group Member,Engineer
Jeremy Schmidt   Group Member,Composer,Artwork
Eyvind Kang   Orchestral Arrangements
Joshua Wells   Composer,Engineer,Group Member
Black Mountain   Producer
Jonn Ollsin   Composer
Jason Ward   Mastering
Stephan McBean   Composer