Wilderness Heart

Whatever Black Mountain lacks in originality they more than make up for in conviction. Wilderness Heart won’t likely be remembered as their best album, but 'best,' as a classification, is counter-intuitive to such a fervently revivalist bunch.

For Wilderness Heart remains, ultimately, a collection of ten tracks of roughly equal length, each taking roughly one classic idea and pickling it in (admittedly, impeccably realised) production gloss and traditionalist technique.

In FM-radio terms, Wilderness Heart is Black Mountain's Houses of the Holy, an album that shimmers as much as it bulldozes, humors as much as it rages, while flexing a more pronounced pop sensibility that mostly works in the band's favor rather than to their detriment.

Wilderness Heart will most likely separate Black Mountain fans as fans of the band’s heavier sound will gravitate toward In the Future and fans of their more folksy/retro sound may lean toward Wilderness Heart.

Now we are in the future, the good news for lovers of that record is this one is every bit as good - and if anything sounds more confident and assured.

Bands like Black Mountain seem very rare, ably and willingly carrying on those wayward sons still in love with arena swagger and hit-making persuasion. Queens of the Stone Age aided in filling that void for a while, celebrating avant-garde manipulations of the 70s rock paradigm, but with Black Mountain the Sabbath-inspired edge gleams so brightly it’s blinding, at least this time around.