IV

"For those concerned: There is both guitar and synthesizer on this album" can be read in the gatefold of Black Mountain's fourth album, their first in six years. It sure has a lot of keyboards (mainly Moog, Mellotron and Hammond), but I think there's a really good balance and cooperation between keyboards and guitars.

The album has a very atmospheric 70's Space Rock sound, but also maintains some of the Pop Rock approach that was present on their previous works. It contains slow-building laidback spacey tracks ("Mothers of the Sun", "Space to Bakersfield"), radio-friendly rocker songs ("Florian Saucer Attack", "Defector", "Constelations") , acoustic ballads ("Line Them All Up", "Cemetery Breeding", "Crucify Me") and more cosmic/industrial Electronic based songs ("You Can Dream", "(Over and Over) The Chain". These two especially remind me of Jeremy Schmidt's excellent solo project, Sinoia Caves).

All these tracks have in common (and are held together by) a gloomy mood, which matches perfectly with Amber Webber's vocals. Bonus points to the energic and meditative rhythmic section, the cool psychedelic guitars and the very nice vocal harmonies.

It's a very enjoyable and diverse album with a really good production and a weirdly memorable cover that looks great on vinyl.

4 stars.