Tuesday, July 15, 2014

CASSETTE REVIEW: Up the Mountain Down the Mountain “12 the cassette tape”


            When I first tried to listen to this cassette, it was the middle of the afternoon in summer, windows open, fans going and a lot of noises outside as well.   I decided within a few minutes that this wasn’t going to be the best environment to experience this in, so I waited and later on at night, when it was dark out, I listened to this for the first time instead with earbuds.   I do believe that made a world of difference instead of my having listened to this outright from the start.

            This static music begins quietly with bass synth bombs being dropped, but it then turns into guitar riffs, drums, strings and a whole lot of banging.   It is somewhere between noise and dark ambient at this point, though it never really stays there.   The shift comes on for it to turn into a slower, stoner, metal type of sludge and I’m really digging the transition and how they got there.

            It is at this point that I also begin to believe that I hear some Black Sabbath coming out, whether intentionally or not.   There are some just killer riffs going in loops now as the guitar notes take center stage.   This gives way to a sort of classic rock vibe, which is somewhere between the faster paced songs of Lynyrd Skynyrd and yet somehow also makes me want question whether or not you are ready for some football (Which I entirely blame on MST3K)

            Up The Mountain Down The Mountain is certainly an interesting concept for a name.   It implies that every action has an opposite and equal reaction, yet also serves as a constant reminder to me that when I walk somewhere if the trip there is uphill then walking back would be downhill.   This is kind of reflected in the music if only because everything that is done is a result of what came before it. 

            There aren’t these gaps of dead air in between songs that leave room to say, “Okay, we’re going to do something different now”.   Every single note is connected and they all blend into each other flawlessly and for that (and the music quality of it) I truly do love this and feel that it needs to be not just heard but experienced.   Put your earbuds in and get lost in the woods to this one.  







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