The single-song Forest of the Lost EP from Brooklyn four-piece Mountain God first came to my attention when the band played part of it at a late-2013 gig at The Grand Victory in their native borough. Mountain God had a different lineup at that point, but it was easy enough to see that their noise-infused post-sludge was coming together quickly in the wake of earlier-that-year’s Experimentation on the Unwilling demo tape (review here). Resonant in both its crushing tones and bleak atmospherics, Forest of the Lost is set to be released this Friday as a limited cassette at a show held at Brooklyn’s The Acheron after more than a year in the pipeline.

For many, the 19-minute single-song narrative will be their first encounter with Mountain God, who also made the trip west last year to play Hoverfest in Portland, Oregon. Recorded as the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Ben Ianuzzi, bassist Nikhil Kamineni, keyboardist Jonathan Powell (since replaced by vocalist/noisemaker Chris “Dickler” Dialogue) and drummer Ian Murray (since replaced by Ryan Smith, also of Thera Roya), “Forest of the Lost” works in two parts, both of which offer resolute churn as they make their way toward a noisy apex. One can see in the waveform that the split comes past the halfway point in the 19:19 sprawl — or what would be a sprawl but for the claustrophobic feel of the track — and the first part devolves from fervent chugging into a wash of noise only to have the second movement pick up with a near-psychedelic feel in the guitar, airy like post-rock gone awry and abducted along some desolate highway.

Prior to that divide, Mountain God (as they were) take doom’s tonal lurch and post-hardcore sludge’s bombast to someplace entirely more malevolent, never losing sight of atmosphere as Ianuzzi snarls out echo-soaked vocal misanthropy. Past the five-minute mark, they set about pulling the song to pieces, Murray‘s drums grounding an otherwise untenable onslaught of drone, and during minute 11, the guitar steps forward to introduce the central riff of the second half, an intensity that jams en route to a head that, by the time it gets there, is more slammed than played, the last hits of “Forest of the Lost” also proving some of the hardest hitting. The consuming force of the EP — recorded and mixed by Kamineni at Archaic Audio — isn’t to be understated, but it’s worth letting you find that out for yourself, so I’ll get the hell out of the song’s way and do that.

Stream “Forest of the Lost” on the player below and dig into the release/show info, which follows:

On February 20th, 2015, Mountain God will release its sophomore record, “Forest of the Lost”. The EP is a concept record, consisting of a single song broken down into different movements.

The diverse track twists and turns over the course of 20 minutes, focusing on the plight of a medieval village, located somewhere in the deepest recesses of mankind’s history. The village children, left to their own devices, disappear into the night searching for proof of a local witch, all the while their parents engage in acts of depravity and debauchery.

As the story reaches a climax, the listener is challenged into thinking about the cast of characters, and the true nature of good, evil, neutrality, and indifference. Musically, the record is a melding of 60s and 70s psychedelics and aesthetics with the heaviness, crunch, and shattering riffs of traditional doom and metal.

Mountain God, in conjunction with the acclaimed booking/promotion agency Signature Riff (New Jersey), is proud to announce the “Forest of the Lost” record release show, to be held at the Acheron (Brooklyn, NY) on February 20th, 2015. “Forest of the Lost” will be available to download through Mountain God’s bandcamp page, as well as physically through a limited run of 50 cassettes.

MOUNTAIN GOD (NYC) Record Release Show (Archaic Revival Records) w/ IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT (NYC), HERCYN (NJ) and DREADLORDS (PA)
When: Feb 20th, 2015
Where: The Acheron, 57 Waterbury Street in Brooklyn
Cost: $5 advance/$8 day of
Doors: 8pm

Mountain God on Thee Facebooks

Mountain God on Bandcamp

Release Show Event Page

Tags: Archaic Revival Records, Brooklyn, Forest of the Lost, Mountain God, Mountain God Forest of the Lost, New York City

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 at 4:15 pm and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.