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MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
‘Hold My Beer‘
(Album Review)

12th November 2021

Review by Chris Reid

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Tasmania’s Mountains of Madness are a Stoner rock band who have been making waves in the Australian Music scene for the better part of a decade.  The Trio’s brand of ‘Sludgy Bullshit Rock’ (a term coined by a Punter who saw them open for Karnivool in 2019) has been fine-tuned over a 3 EP journey to date, culminating in the sound showcased on their debut album entitled Hold My Beer, set for release on 28th November.

Whilst the Trio’s sound has always been primarily rooted in a Stoner/Doom (meaning its almost essential to show some level of Black Sabbath influence), Mountains of Madness seem to be heavily inspired by the early 90’s heavy rock scene too – On Hold my Beer I hear elements form a range of heavy bands outside of the usual Stoner Influences including Soundgarden to Alice in Chains. No doubt the members in MoM are products of an era when heavy music wasn’t as readily  pigeonholed into discreet subgenres.

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Bitter Pill was released as a single back in March ’21 as is one of my favourite tracks on the album. It’s a quality album opener and contains all of the MoM Hallmarks – rock solid riffing from Baz Leek, snarling vocal lines and fuzz ridden bass form Adrian Smith, and hard hitting, punchy drum arrangements from Bert Pitfield. The last 2 minutes of Bitter Pill are particularly satisfying to my ears, as the band wind back the tempo and chug the listener into submission.

Shitting Bricks is an up-tempo rager which is closed out by a bluesy doom Jam. Baz Leek’s Iommi inspired pentatonic leads and riffing are again highlight of the 2nd half of the track.  Shave and a Haircut is a mid-tempo rocker for the most part, with a fast and furious Motorhead style middle section and a sludgey outro groove.  My Old Friend is arguably my favourite track on the album –  I hear a lot of Alice in Chains influence on this one, with the vocals and riffing again being a highlight throughout the track.  Did I mention the riffs?

Bitches Brew was released with a video clip recently an is a up-tempo number destined to be fan favourite in the live setting. Quite the Girl Indeed has an addictive groove and memorable outro section, and the bluesy swagger and dynamic range of the title track Hold my Beer is a refreshing change up. The bookends of the album are particularly strong, with Heart Attack being another contender for song of the release – with a run time of over 7 and a half minutes the ideas in this track is afforded the time to build and crescendo with great effect.

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As usual, the album is engineered/produced by regular collaborator Joe Haley (Psycroptic) – the album sounds great.  After a pause from touring during the pandemic, Mountains of Madness will be hitting the road to promote the album in 2022 – there’s no doubt that this material will translate particularly well in a live setting as the 3 piece write tracks that don’t require a great deal of studio effects or trickery.

Whilst the term ‘Hold My Beer’ is a humorous idiom of sorts, and there are a smattering of eyebrow raising song titles on the release, the album really means business. It’s a very enjoyable release that should be well received by fans of rock and metal alike.  The band have collaborated with Tasmanian craft brewer Shambles Brewery on a beer to launch the album – a Vienna styled red larger call Hold My Beer will be available in selected pubs and bottle shops.  I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a physical copy of both the beer and album to enjoy the pairing of two quality Tasmanian exports.  Do yourself a favour.

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Follow MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
Facebook – Bandcamp – Instagram

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AMNPLIFY – DB