Garrett GravleyThis New Single From The Fort Worth Sludge Metal Band Isn’t Quite What We’re Used To, But We Definitely Aren’t Mad At It.
Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.
Mountain of Smoke – “The Weeping Spine”
RIYL: Eyehategod, Saint Vitus, Om.
What Else You Should Know: Fort Worth sludge metal outfit Mountain of Smoke formed in 2013 as a duo between bassist/vocalist Brooks Wilhoite and drummer PJ Costigan. These days, the band is operating as a quartet, with guitarist Kyle Shutt (The Sword, Doom Side of the Moon) and pedal steel player Alex Johnson (The House Harkonnen, Convoy and the Cattlemen).
Per a March interview with Metal Nation, Shutt stated the band would be recording a new album in April, and although the album is still in the works, Mountain of Smoke decided to drop a new track titled “The Weeping Spine.”
It’s been over a year since we last heard anything new from the 2019 Central Track Music Honors nominees, and in the band’s first follow-up to 2018’s Gods of Biomechanics, it managed to achieve a punchiness that is just as comparable to that of previous releases – and with considerably less compression.
The opening rhythm guitar instrumental is a bit reminiscent of the Melvins’ heavier material, and about 10 seconds in, we hear a chunky, reverbed bass riff that is overlapped with a mixture of guitar feedback and John Carpenter-esque synth chords. In an apparent departure from the band’s earlier output, Shutt belts out high-pitched guitar riffs that sort of recall Pantera’s Great Southern Trendkill.
It’s a bit of a left turn for Mountain of Smoke, but it really pulled through with a crusher of a single in teasing us of what’s to come.
Cover photo via Mountain of Smoke/Facebook.