Style: Doomgaze, Post-Rock/Metal (mostly clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Holy Fawn, Latitudes, Alcest, Cult of Luna
Country: California, United States
Release date: 24 July 2024
Us reviewers often like to claim that we are objective, but in reality, there is a huge subjective component to it: which scoring criteria to use, what importance you assign to each of them, and even how a band scores for a given category all differs greatly from reviewer to reviewer. However, one criterion which is almost universally agreed upon to be important—almost regardless of genre—is that of variety. It is not that we necessarily expect bands to be genre hopping every other song, but we generally do want each song to have its own identity instead of an amorphous blob of interchangeable tunes (well, unless you like drone, in which case I can’t help you). With that said, though, a band priding themselves for eclecticism has a higher variety bar to cross than one making an atmospheric mood portrait (more on that later).
Today’s doomgazing subject, Mountaineer, is very much of the latter variety. While I did not love their 2020 album Bloodletting as much as my former colleague Jonah did, “The Weeds I Have Tended” and “Ghost Story” were among my favorite songs of the year because of how incredibly powerful they were emotionally, pulling especially from doom metal for the riffs and post-hardcore for the emotive vocals, with the shoegaze aspect reserved primarily for the atmosphere. On Dawn and All That Follows, however, the band has forgone a lot of their more immediate—perhaps even abrasive to some—elements like the powerful post-hardcore style singing and the heavier, darker doom riffs in favor of a more subdued approach focused on ethereal atmosphere guided by gentle singing.
And this is really where the variety issue comes in, because, let’s face it: this record has little of it. The Dawn and All That Follows is a vibe, as the kids say; it’s an exploration of a warm, ethereal soundscape that envelops you like a fuzzy blanket. Mountaineer are content to spend the majority of their time cycling through slightly melodic, somewhat sludgy doom riffs, drench it all in shoegaze-y fuzz, and then have Miguel Meza croon on top of it all with his velvety voice. When they’re not riffing, they typically revert to post-rock tremolo picking with only the bass remaining as a source of fuzz. The formula is certainly pleasant, but unfortunately it quickly starts to homogenize as their songs seem to move endlessly between mode A and mode B. For instance, the post-rock section in the title track is pretty much identical to the one in “You Will Always Be One of Us”, and the myriad of lower tempo riffs throughout the album are an even bigger blur of fuzz. Mountaineer certainly succeeded in enacting the opening track’s mission statement—Close your eyes and drift away—but for all the wrong reasons.
The atmospheric mood portrait approach can work amazingly (see for example: The Mantle), but it is important to explore the different nuances of the emotion you’re going for, whether through musical storytelling or by use of shading in a more amorphous composition doesn’t matter. Mountaineer clearly went for the musical storytelling approach, now relying more on crescendo structures and atmospheric development to carry the drama than anything abrasive. The crescendos they’re pretty good at, the atmospheric development not so much, often ending post-rock sections abruptly after some mild strumming instead of carefully building layer upon layer. The one track where both are done well however is the opener, “Cradlesong”, in which hefty post-metal, fuzzy shoegaze, and melodic post-rock leads intertwine in the crescendo. Extremer pastures also make a minor but triumphant return in the title track and “Testimonial” as harsh vocals and heavier, darker riffs aid in their crescendos, giving back at least some drama to the album.
I really wanted to like Dawn and All That Follows more than I do, given how much I enjoyed Bloodletting. Sadly, Mountaineer stripped back a lot of the aspects which made them so compelling previously, and did not adequately replace those elements with new ones to justify the change. They doomed, they gazed, and they posted, but it’s all smudged together in a uniform manner, neither innovating nor excelling at any of them, ultimately making for a pleasant, but largely forgettable experience. Onto the next one.
Recommended tracks: Cradlesong, Dawn and All That Follows, Testimonial
You may also like: As Real, Dead to a Dying World
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: A Thousand Arms – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Mountaineer is:
– Miguel Meza (vocals)
– Clayton Bartholomew (guitars)
– Isaac Rigler (guitars)
– Forrest Harvey (guitars)
– Dillon Variz (bass)
– Jordan Norton (drums)
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