Iron Mountain

Welcome back fellow progheads!  Despite August having wound down as summer races toward its inevitable end, the sun continues to burn a bright orange hole in the sky.  In an attempt to stretch the solstice as far as possible, I decided to log some serious travel miles and loaded the Concert Closet to continue the search for all things prog in Ireland.  Seems like a great time to spend a week immersed in some incredibly hot and intense instrumental prog.

I do believe this is my first official visit to the Emerald Isle, and like I always say; "Go big or go home."  Following the haunting sound of flutes like a moth to flame, I find myself awash in the sounds of Iron Mountain.

Iron Mountain bills themselves as an instrumental Irish rock band with influences that sprawl across the prog garden, taking root in the post rock, kraut rock, psychedelic, and folk metal sections. Hmmm...the lure of folk metal alone drew my gait in their direction...so let us exit the Concert Closet for a closer look and listen in on what the prog buffet is serving up this week.

Starting with an absolute mind twister, I drop the laser on "Opium" to get things started.  The opening takes me right to the middle of...nowhere...outside deep in the wild...high above K2 looking down...
Iron Mountain hits you in the back of the neck and spins you right around--what a week it will certainly be!  The folk metal reference burns brightly on this tune as Iron Mountain bursts forth releasing all their pent up tension as the song unfolds.  Flutes and percussion reign supreme as the music moves forward with a tribal energy that dares you not to close your eyes and dim the lights...

Once I fully absorb the sounds that just exploded all around me, I crawl back to the buffet for a second assault..."Enthralldom." The tension picks up right where "Opium" left off; the darkness doesn't loom so much as it totally envelops you...much like a shroud wrapped around your entire being, allowing you to become immersed in the sound.  Iron Mountain emits top notes reminiscent of King Crimson's earlier days when Jamie Muir squeezed sound from every item in the room.  The foreboding mood even takes me to KC's "Red" days...but I also sense some of the emotions Beardfish would embed in their music as well.  Iron Mountain stalks the dark outer edges of the prog
garden--but mainly as a sentry.  This is a band that can stand up to the class bully and send him home whimpering without so much as balling up a fist...

Liner Notes...Iron Mountain originates in Limerick, Ireland and consists of Damien Mullane on guitar, Matt Bashford on Uillean pipes, low whistle, and Native American flute, Ronan Ryan on transverse wooden flute and flute head, Stephen Hughes on bass, and Ray Murphy on drums and percussion.  I feel confident saying this is the first band I recall citing credit for two members playing at least three different flutes...suddenly those kids in middle school music class don't seem so nerdy...

Iron Mountain formed in 2012 and released their debut "Unum" in April of this year.  Building a sound that draws from the early days of King Crimson, the psychedelic times of Pink Floyd, the dark side of Gentle Giant, and the multi-faceted emotions of Beardfish, Iron Mountain stalks the prog garden with very few peers.  Their sound harkens to the days when musicians cared more about people focusing on the music rather than the performers on stage.  Remember when album jackets unfolded to reveal a world you knew was calling your name?  Iron Mountain touches all those exposed nerves lurking in the back of your mind...luring you into the realm where hearing something for the first time was magical...

Slice of the music number three this week is called "Bonfires."  Once again Iron Mountain dives deep into the darkness right out of the gate; you sense yourself being stalked as you sit in silence... listening...waiting for the cranium pummeling that cannot be too far away.  Yet the deathblows never materialize--the sounds just roll over you like high tide slamming the shore.  There is a sense of Tony Levin and the Stickmen meeting K2 on this song...a purely mystical experience.

Learn more about Iron Mountain at their website Iron Mountain Band.  You can purchase their
music--and you know I encourage you to do so--at Iron Mountain BandCamp.  Dig a bit deeper and discover the artists behind the sounds at Iron Mountain Facebook.  Of course Twitter allows you to keep up with the band and their musings @IronMountainlk.  Whatever your choice of connection, you will want to add Iron Mountain to your prog rock collection.

I posted the song "Powow" here for your weekly listening experience.  I chose this particular tune because it seems to expose Iron Mountain the most; so much sound and so many moods...a cornucopia of their trademark folk metal sound.  Iron Mountain is tilling very uncrowded acreage in the prog garden; soil that is not heavily trod.  My hope is that their sound will grow, spreading across sub-genres under the prog umbrella, reaching an audience thirsty for new and extremely innovative sound.

    
Well fellow progheads, my first foray into Ireland was without doubt a fascinating experience.  Iron Mountain is not quite the throat punch that is the Dropkick Murphys, but for sure the Irish know how to play hard.  Taking no cues from subtlety, Iron Mountain comes at you full throttle but never hits with a fatal blow...the preference here is to wow and amaze with sounds you never imagined coming from your headphones.  The canvas may be dark and haunting at times, but Iron Mountain is fully capable of tapping into every emotion connecting auditory senses to the mind.

Now as is my custom, I must pack up the Concert Closet once again as I continue the search for all things prog.  I hope you will come back once again to discover where the journey has taken me...and you.  Until next week...