Manowar - Mountains 10/10
absolutely spinetingling. adams always goes so hard his voice seems on the verge of cracking, guitars are played so loud they pop dangerously at times, if it sounds out of tune on occasion it's only because they're breaking the space-time continuum. and this is a fucking ballad! huge chords hanging in the air, high notes plucked with the tenderness of a harp, leads gliding across the sky. passionate, gargantuan music which sounds genuinely
mountainous, and nothing like anything else from the period.
Bathory - Enter Your Mountain 8/10
incidentally, manowar were the primary influence on viking-era bathory. if only 'viking metal' had continued in this rough, earthy, authentic direction instead of devolving into a gimmickfest, i wouldn't have to actively avoid bands dubbed with the tag. this is a really weird song, lots of unintuitive chord progressions, and it creates more vivid imagery than you ever can through the normal channels. there are spiritual and primordial forces at work here.
Death - Crystal Mountain 5/10
one of the better later death tunes in that it's pretty catchy and doesn't have too much in the way of wanky digression, but it's still that shallow mixture of bouncy melodeath clichés, juvenile aggression and unearned pretentiousness. it also doesn't earn access to a mountains playlist solely on the back of using the word mountain as a metaphor, sorry.
Summoning - Caradhras 7/10
well this one sure fits the theme, aesthetically speaking, as do most summoning songs. setting epic narratives against a backdrop of vast natural wonder is kind of their stock in trade. this song isn't one of summoning's more memorable to me (one of the best on that album though fo sho) but that's kind of by design, as it's one of their more laid back, lush and meditative tunes. slight but lovely.
Agalloch - Falling Snow 5/10
i always find agalloch pretty wishy-washy and obvious, and this is no exception, but i like it more than most agalloch i've heard aside from the wah pedal nonsense or whatever the fuck that is. reminds me of early katatonia a bit in that it's borrowing pretty liberally from '80s goth rock (not necessarily a bad thing but they're not exactly very creative about it), which is nostalgic at least, and i quite like the slowdive-y clean vox. i'd never go out of my way to listen to this though, it's just (mostly) pleasant background music, and while it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb on this playlist, it also feels a little too... 'man-made' to fit the theme.
Eluveite - Call of the Mountains 3/10
i liked the last 35 seconds, so that's something. the chorus is pretty catchy i suppose, aside from when that awful abysmal modulation happens. otherwise this is generic sub-lacuna coil level pop 'metal' with what is the definition of a folk gimmick. it did make me wanna listen to loreena mckennitt though which, again, is something.
Alda - In the Wake of an Iron Wind 4/10
pretty textbook example of why the recent atmospheric/cascadian/whatever BM movement is something to be avoided--it's just americans ripping off europeans with little of the same spirit and pretending like they've invented something new. shit like this is a dime a dozen, and it makes mountains seem boring.
(Abbath's) I - Mountains 6/10
the above vid is unavailable for me but i found it
here. love that riff in the verse, love abbath's voice (always), dig the guitar tone plenty too. song itself is as formulaic and stubbornly obvious a 'black metal' anthem as everything else abbath's done in recent years, and similarly pretty entertaining if you don't go in looking for depth.
Deaf Dealer - Escape from the Witch Mountain 7/10
this is nice. reminiscent of early maiden and brocas helm in places. curious to know who picked this!
Sort Vokter - Fjellstev 7/10
man, this is a blast from the past! i used to spin this regularly but it's been years. it's nice that this is the outro for the playlist as it's very much a come-down kinda tune, and it makes me wish i'd picked the popol vuh tune that accompanies the descent down the mountain in AGUIRRE now haha, that would've made for an amazing playlist intro. anyways, i've run out of words now but while i like this plenty, i'd probably bump this up a mark if it was in the context of the album, as that's where it really fits in.
jesus christ pick shorter fucking songs next time
