Friday 7 December 2018

Young Mountain - Lost Tree


Labels: Dasein Records/Hardcore For The Losers/Miss The Stars Records/Pundonor Records/Through Love Records/Zegema Beach Records/Blade Records/Cactus Tapes/No Funeral Records
Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital
Release Date: 05 Sep 2018

Tracklist:

1. Asunder, To Eye Each Other
2. The Sun Is Away
3. ////////////////
4. Misery
5. Juni
6. Vacant Eyes
7. Lost Tree
8. I Flew Above Your House Last Night

I love this part of the week and thankfully I only have one more full week of work before a much needed break. To let loose I've decided to blast some good old Swedish hardcore in the form of Young Mountain and their September 2018 full-length "Lost Tree. It was released by a whole host of collaborating record labels and even though it's been out a little while at this point, a bit more column space wont't hurt! 

It’s so nice to sink into the familiar sounds of emotive and atmospheric Swedish hardcore once again. The Swede’s have crafted their own sound over recent years and Young Mountain are faithful practitioners of it. Opening with Asunder, To Eye Each Other you’re greeted with cinematic and slow instrumentation, with jarring but heartfelt screams and subtle melody. Just to prevent any chance of the listener settling into a groove, Young Mountain go in a more grunge/emo direction on The Sun Is Away. It shows a sensitive side that’s removed from the heaviness, even if that heaviness is affirming in it’s own right.

The mysteriously titled //////////////// sees YM going back to their hardcore sound, but this time adding in introspective guitar passages and moments of loving calm. Those moments of calm make the abrasive sections even more epic in my opinion. Misery isn’t necessarily a miserable song, instead it’s stripped down and soothing. This record has many twists and turns but they seem to flow together effortlessly, which is another selling point for both YM and “Lost Tree”. YM’s screamo influence is greater during Juni and the longer playing time allows the band to spread themselves out a bit more musically. The atmosphere within their song-writing and performance is clearer to see and hear for sure. Just when you thought the record couldn’t vary itself anymore, Vacant Eyes is delivered amidst raging black metal-style vocals and off-kilter guitar work with a hint of blues. It’s fucking great.

The title-track is a beautifully crafted song with layers of instrumentation that give you a short time for rest and reflection. It does seems as though there could be a crescendo of dissonant riffs at any time but YM restrains themselves for a few moments at least. More ambient than an assault, with softer vocals before it builds in volume and feedback to something that you could shout along too, involuntarily from the top of your lungs. As if that song wasn’t enough, album closer I Flew Above Your House Last Night does it all over again. This time with one last massive blast of distant hardcore. While my reference point for this sound will always be Totem Skin; since their demise, there’s definitely room for another and Young Mountain may not be as caustic initially, but they’re just as real and just as damn good!

You can stream and purchase "Lost Tree" digitally from Young Mountain below:-




You can grab physical copies from the below labels:-

Hardcore For The Losers - http://hc4lzs.blogspot.com/
Through Love Records - http://throughloverec.tictail.com
No Funeral Records - http://nofuneral.storenvy.com

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