GCJ60OBA

Mountain Tamer Eulogizes the "Funeral of a Dog"

GCJ60OBA

If you grew up on your parents’ record collections, a band name like Mountain Tamer quickly recalls the iconic opening lyric to Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”. The three Cali longhairs in the band definitely know their classic rock, as well as all the psychedelic, punk, and metal staples that inform their second full-length Godfortune Dark Matters. Weaving a deft blend of desert rock Kyuss-isms with Melvins chunk and airborne Earthless solos, Mountain Tamer comes across as a jam band that likes to cut out the ‘jam’ part and get straight to the good stuff. No complaints here.

While opener “Faith Peddler” lays down a nice QOTSA-on-shrooms base, it’s the second track “Funeral Of A Dog” that ups the metal ante. Opening with a big, swinging riff that would make Sleep jealous, Mountain Tamer eases into some ambient tribal percussion and whirling flutes straight out of a deleted desert scene from The Doors. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Hall has a voice tailor-made for the genre, with just enough Ozzy inflection and vocal effects to draw in the curious, while his playing chops – as well as those of the lockstep rhythm section – seal the deal. This is real-deal genre blending, in all the best ways.

Of the track, the band states:

“‘Funeral of a Dog’ is a strange trip into a village in the late 1600s where a man belongs to a witch cult and is run out of town again and again until he is burned at the stake! The song also offers a bit of a perspective flip and kinda points out that almost any religion has done horrible things in the name of “god” which isn’t much different than the crimes that witches were accused of back then they just went against popular beliefs. The structure and instrumentation offer a kind of blend of the two extremes of the album all in one far-out song that has equal parts heavy to psychedelic. “

Godfortune Dark Matters releases on August 24th via Magnetic Eye Records. Follow Mountain Tamer on .

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