BLACK MOUNTAIN

This is a pretty solid attempt at modern psychedelic rock, clearly influenced by Black Sabbath and Jefferson Airplane. The music is mainly slow to mid-tempo with fat, syrupy guitars dominating the proceedings. The vocals alternate between male and female. The lead singer and songwriter, Stephen McBean has a decent voice, but I much prefer the vocals of his counterpart, Amber Webber. Her voice has a slightly hazy, drugged out quality that would be disturbing in a friend, but works well with the music. Actually, her singer rather reminds me of Judy Garland for reasons I can't quite explain. And that's a good thing.

Standout tracks include Don't Run Our Hearts Around, a slow metal dirge that picks up steam towards the end and rocks far harder than anything else on the record. Also, Set Us Free and Heart of Snow are attractive for their lyrical melodies and somewhat desperate delivery. You can feel the pain behind them. Unfortunately, these are balanced out by a few missteps like the overly cutesy Modern Music and the downright bad No Hits. Still, it's an enjoyable record and somewhat of a refreshing throwback in these modern times.