ninehertz

Mountainscape have been making a few waves within the UK post-metal scene of late. Their new album, Traversing Realms, will only add to the clamour.

For a genre known for its zeal for expansion and grand approaches, this still feels like another level. Described accurately as “cinematic post-metal” within the press material for the album, this is an album centred around interpretations of grand sci-fi and fantasy themes, an ambition fraught with risk yet one which they flourish whilst achieving.

The first of three tracks is a reimagining of the music of Dune and features a guest appearance from Amaya López-Carromero of Maud the Moth, who adds a sublimely surreal and Arrakis-ethereal presence. The rumbling guitars that intersperse the vocals generate the alien desert world feel, capturing the mood and atmosphere well. Its divergence from the source through its metal nature provides an individuality, its ebbs and flows fitting both its soundtrack and post-metal materials as it dips down into gentle calm winds, then rises with urgency.

This is followed by The Elder Scrolls, based on the epic fantasy video game series. Like Dune, this is not untouched source material within metal (Noctule’s first album was Skyrim themed for example), yet it remains a tantalising proposition, expertly realised. It begins in a gentle manner, soundtracking the free nature and wandering expanse of its subject matter more than the battles and arcane lore; this arrives later through a beautiful atmospheric black metal middle section that carries a real sense of drama with it.

The album ends with Closure, glass-delicate post-rock aided by a string quartet. It is an aspirational work of obvious passion, although admittedly well beyond my preferred type of music, so one I’m unlikely to revisit. Regardless, the album stands tall against such a towering ambition laid out from the start, those two behemothic sources met head on, the resulting art comfortably sitting alongside its epic inspiration.