Slow. low and heavy is the manifesto on which Floridian doomsters Smoke Mountain base their claim for world domination, the Tallahassee trio comprised of Sarah Pitt (vocals), Lee Pitt (guitar) and Brian Pitt (drums) have just released their self-titled debut EP "Smoke Mountain", three cloudy grooves of fuzz drenched doom from America's Sunshine State.
"Demon" opens with a short sound byte, its narrative telling of witches and witchcraft in today's society before slowly fading and making way for a chugging, insistent proto-doom groove furnished with twisty, dark, fuzz drenched licks and motif's driven by pulverising powerful percussion. Over this wall of stoner doom heaviness Sarah Pitt delivers strong, slightly monotone vocal melodies telling slightly tongue in cheek tales of an "evil demon" and having "no mercy for the broken bitch" her voice resolute and strong, soaring with dark, almost ethereal, tones over the maelstrom of riffs and rhythms surrounding them.
"Violent Night" puts the brakes on a touch and sees Smoke Mountain hitting a heavier Sleep like groove with fuzz pedals dialled down to devastation levels beneath which are deployed a barrage of heavy pounding percussion. S.Pitt's vocal mirrors the songs heavier vibe by dropping down into a slightly lower register her dark sultry tones taking on an air of mournfulness as she soars over the sombre doom grooves reverberating all around her.
Heralded by a wall of howling feedback before moving into a slow, low heavy doom refrain final track "Smoke Mountain" once again sees Smoke Mountain employing Sleep-like refrains of slowed down sabbathian groove. Backed by Brian Pitt's tumultuous drumming and Lee Pitt's crunching, heavily fuzzed guitar riffage Sarah Pitt shows just why the female voice is currently experiencing such a resurgence in underground rock music circles, her powerful monochrome tinted tones echo over and around the layers of cloyingly intense doom served up by her namesakes, and give the songs almost nursery rhymes-ish melodies an ethereal, ghostly feel that many male singer would struggle to replicate.
A little raw in places but with enough promise to have you drooling and salivating for the release of a full album "Stoner Mountain" is an EP you really need to check out .....
© 2017 Frazer Jones
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