Performer Notes

Personnel: Stephen McBean (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Amber Webber (vocals, percussion); Joshua Wells (piano, Mellotron, drums, percussion); Jeremy Schmidt (organ, Mellotron, synthesizer); Ryan Peters, Sean Hawryluk (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Dave Sardy; John Congleton.
Recording information: Argyle Hotel; Sunset sound; The Factory; The Hive, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
After the surprise success of Black Mountain's self-titled debut and their equally surprising tour with Coldplay, the media focused attention solely on band founder and riff-o-matic guitar god Stephen McBean. With IN THE FUTURE, their seismic follow-up, the Vancouver quintet casts aside McBean's lone genius act with an emphatic statement: Black Mountain is a band.
Singer Amber Webber's haunting vibrato is as much a presence on IN THE FUTURE as McBean's anguished husk, and dominates on the beautiful closing track, "Night Walks"; bassist Matt Camirand and drummer Joshua Wells keep the tempos patient but insistently heavy; and Jeremy Schmidt's sinewy Moog and Hammond lines recall Hawkwind and Deep Purple in equal measure, and are thankfully placed high in the mix. The group dynamic bolsters McBean's ever-incendiary riffs and deepens the Sabbath-meets-VU promise of their debut. IN THE FUTURE features the stunning "Bright Lights," an album-side length statement of purpose. Space-trucking nation, unite!

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.64) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "In stoner-detention epics like 'Wucan' and 'Queens Will Play,' they bring metal guitars, multipart song structures, temples-of-Syrinx poetry and vintage synths that sound like they were beamed in from some lost Argent or ELP session."

Entertainment Weekly (p.69) - "The main attraction is 'Bright Lights,' a multipart suite with loping power chords and lyrics possibly about communion with el diablo himself." -- Grade: B+

The Wire (p.69) - "With Amber Webber's vocals rising to Amon Duul II peaks of intensity, this album eclipses their previous output and hits a consistent note of righteous force."

CMJ - "IN THE FUTURE holds on to its spiritual folk roots through the entirety of the record, making it an extremely accessible -- and aesthetically complete -- album."

No Depression (p.77) - "The album strikes an uncalculated blance between muscular and expansive; that's what makes it interesting."

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.47) - "'Stormy High' kicks things off in rip-snorting fashion, all fuzzed-out stoner riffs and a big throbbing '70s organ."

Q (Magazine) (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] casts its net across the era's full spectrum, stopping off at plangent blues, pastoral balladry, woozy psychedelia and stomping boogie."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "IN THE FUTURE is full of musical muscle....[They] have found freedom in mashing up previously forgotten and forbidden styles."

Blender (Magazine) (p.97) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "More diabolical and daring than the band's shaggy 2005 debut, FUTURE peaks with the primordial 'Bright Lights'..."

Harp (magazine) (p.97) - "[I]t's a tight, intense ride -- all sound and fury signifying awesome."

The Word (magazine) (pp.98-99) - "[T]here's plenty to enjoy here. 'Bright Lights'' epic, 17 minutes takes in everything from Black Sabbath power surges to Pink Floyd ambiance, and you can't help but enjoy it."