Black Mountain
In The Future

We left Black Mountain almost 3 years ago with the EP "Druganaut," which followed shortly after the release of the Canadians' first and excellent album and hinted at a sonic expansion towards a psychedelic cosmogony heavily influenced by space keyboards. How far has this evolution gone in light of the new "In The Future?"

One might answer that the hoped-for artistic breakthrough did not occur; or rather that it was a turn onto a parallel road but in the wrong direction. With all the risks involved. Like trying to travel against the flow on a highway. It might go well for a while, but in the long run, the chances of an accident increase exponentially.

The fundamental elements of Black Mountain's current sound have been reduced to two: keyboards and guitars. The former are as volatile and gliding as the latter are chthonic and noticeably "heavy." To the point of recalling, depending on the case, the Ash Ra Tempel with Jimmy Page on guitar, if things go well, or a horrible hybrid between Metallica's "Black Album" period and Jean Michel Jarre, if things go poorly. A much more frontal sound that leaves less room for the intimate tracks of the first album, except for Amber's final homily in "Night Walks." The rest is almost entirely dominated by McBean's six-string and Jeremy Schmidt's keyboards (who debuted last year with a solo album in the style of Klaus Schulze, under the pseudonym Sinoia Caves). If at times the relationship is discordant (the entrance of keyboards on "Angels" practically ruins the piece), in others we're faced with true gems of 70's heavy rock among the best out there, as demonstrated by the opening "Stormy High," supported by droning organ and a stumbling drum, and the tribal "Evil Ways."

The epic 8 minutes of "Tyrants" tread the fine line between being convincing and genuine, and being flashy rockers with Flying V's, resulting in half-convincing, not least because of the Goblin-like organ thrown in almost randomly. Epicness that spills into the almost pretentious pompousness of another long track, "Bright Lights," which starts quite well with the hypnotic duet between Mc Bean and Amber, suddenly interrupted by an almost metal guitar, utterly out of place. "Wucan" and "Queens Will Play" make their own league; the former, a murky and hypnotic journey into the night, accompanied by organs, moog, and Alex from "A Clockwork Orange"; the latter, a cold fresco halfway between a Christian homily and pagan evocation, with Amber officiating the ritual.

Despite the title, "In The Future" speaks a past idiom, and doesn't always master its terms; let's hope these translation errors don't carry on for too long, otherwise we will find ourselves with old and stale revivalists. And we love the Mountain too much to let that happen. Got it, Mc Bean?