Listening to Horseback’s Invisible Mountain is like listening to the soundtrack to the most profound and thought-provoking movie you’ve ever seen. Originally released on Utech in 2009, Relapse Records stepped up to re-release the CD version this month (the LP is on Aurora Borealis Records).
The brain-child of Chapel Hill, NC-based guitarist, drummer, and musical jack-of-all-trades Jenks Miller, Horseback is one of the most intriguing sounding bands I’ve come across in a long time. Fusing sounds from several different genres, Miller crafts an album with the potential to tickle the eardrums of a variety of listeners. There is a sludgy stoner metal influence on this recording, with heavy droning guitar, thick, pounding drums and rumbling bass reminiscent of a stripped down Neurosis, but with a freedom of expression calling to mind a heavier Swans.
The raspy, crooning vocals channel some of the most ominous black metal vocalists, but blend nicely in the mix amidst the instruments, and do not overpower or get lost behind everything else. There are more instruments present than just drums, guitar, bass, and vocals, with Miller layering in synthesizer and other instruments that fill out the sound of the band.
Listening to this album is not like listening to your typical metal album. Each of the four tracks on this album are more akin to movements of a symphony than to individual songs, and the tracks flow together seamlessly as would a symphony. Of course, this is a symphony you’ll be doing the slow full-body headbang to for most of the album. While I would suggest listening to this album as a whole vs. listening to individual tracks, the title track I found to be the most dynamic and engaging, as well as the track that best tickled my metal and hardcore leaning tastebuds.
The last track, “Hatecloud Dissolving Into Nothing,” is a change of pace from the first three tracks, and loses the sludge/stoner metal sound for a more post-hardcore sound calling to mind bands like Hoover. The hypnotic guitar chords come to the front of the mix for this song with the fierce growls fading into the background, giving the song a haunting, texturized sound.
This is one of my favorite new albums this year, and is well worth investing in. With both future releases on the horizon later this year, as well as a live lineup that will hopefully be going out on the road soon, there is much to look forward to from this mind-blowing band.
(Relapse Records, PO Box 2060, Upper Darby, PA 19082)