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Galloping, off-kilter and unabashedly victorious, proggy noise-rock outfit Skryptor's new single "Red Mountain" takes hard-rock/psychedelic throwback tropes, flips them on their heads and stretches it all into an adventurous march through endlessly shifting soundscapes.
The instrumental trio is made up of heavy-music veterans — guitarist Tim Garrigan of Dazzling Killmen, bassist-keyboardist David McClelland of craw and drummer Hank Shteamer of Stats — and "Red Mountain" showcases their finely honed chops. Skryptor build rippling walls of mesmerizing noise that rise steadily around the listener like a cocoon. The comfort of the fuzzed-out foundations lets stunning solos fly freely as intricate drum bits break through and steal the attention every few meters to bring you back from the edge of immersion.
A hypnotic abstract video accompanies the song, offering up contemporary artistic visuals with a warm vintage patina for a modernized take on the hallucinatory imagery associated with expansive, experimental guitar music. The pictures on screen flash and fold in on each other, mimicking the washing tones that comfort then confront the viewer.
Shteamer (who, in full disclosure, previously worked with Revolver Editorial Director Brandon Geist at Rolling Stone) notes of the track, "I think the original name of the song was simply 'Mountain,' which began as an homage to the legendary Sixties/Seventies power trio of the same name — kind of a nod to how classically and unabashedly rocking the song was ... I will respectfully acknowledge the influence of the great Vinny Appice, whose inimitable swaggery feel on the verses of Dio's 'Holy Diver' inspired the beat I play on the outro, during Tim's monster solo."
"Red Mountain" will appear on Skryptor's forthcoming full-length, Luminous Volumes, which is due March 29th as a joint release between three labels: Aqualamb Records, Skin Graft and Sleeping Giant Glossolalia. In keeping with Aqualamb tradition, a 200-page softbound book accompanies each physical album, in this case, featuring tales penned by McClelland as well as several other authors, who tell the stories of vicious mermaids, slaughterhouses and more. You can pre-order a copy here.
Luminous Volumes track list:
1) Raga
2) Lotus and Mace
3) The Orchard, pt. 1
4) Mystification
5) Red Mountain
6) The Orchard, pt. 2
7) Summer Blossoms
