Concert Review: Black Mountain Has its Peaks

You can also read this here:


A lazy observer could write off Black Mountain as a pile of classic rock clichés – just call them “Zeppelin and Sabbath riffs crossed with the synthesizers from Wish You Were Here” and be done with them. But stamping them with the stoner rock label merely marginalizes the many ways this Vancouver quintet pulls from its 70’s influences and never sounds contrived.

In 75 minutes at the Exit/In Monday, Black Mountain defied all those labels. The influences might be obvious, but they don't blur the band's focus or dumb it down into a glorified Sabbath tribute.

It was all Canadian onstage, with openers Nordic Nomadic
and Bon Iver. The latter overcame minimal instrumentation with aid from Justin Vernon’s soaring vocals that at times recalled a gruffer, earthier Chris Martin. The pleasant, if sometimes slight, folk held promise, but Bon Iver isn't quite ready for headlining. Near 11 p.m., the opening chords to Black Mountain’s “Stormy High” quickly scorched away any trace of the openers.

For as monolithic a sound as the band appears to produce, the show displayed their facets well. The acoustic waltz “Stay Free” broke up the menace shining through the rest of Black Mountain’s set. Its loose feel was welcome, and a sign laying off the distortion for another song or two might have broken up Black Mountain’s set better.
The bands’s selections leaned on In the Future, their just-released sophomore outing. As it was, picking out songs from their albums was simple – anything from their debut sounded like musicians trying to outplay each other, but newer songs meshed more organically.

Seamless harmonies from Amber Webber widened Black Mountain’s sonic palette. When she took the lead on the gorgeous “Queens Will Play,” the
Sabbath specter fades for a Grace Slick/Sandy Denny vibe. When supporting singer/guitarist Stephen McBean, Webber sacrifices none of her vocal punch.

Even when the tempos eased up, the songs continue their slow burn and never shed a strand of muscle. All their droning dirges stayed fresh past their five minute marks. The epic “Tyrants” never dragged; it leaves the audience wondering how those eight minutes blew by so quickly. A blistering three-song encore felt much the same - the tightness and flow of the music never faltered.

Black Mountain’s lyrics land squarely in Middle Earth on most tunes. But no one came to hear them for extra credit in poetry class. These psychedelic revivalists draw a crowd for the riffs, the epics and the synths. On Monday, they delivered an avalanche of all three.