Hypermagic Mountain
Encyclopedia
Hypermagic Mountain is the fourth album by the noise rock
band Lightning Bolt. It has a very dense sound composed entirely of distorted bass guitar
and loud, pounding drums. The band and their sound engineer, Dave Auchenbach, recorded the album in a house in Providence
, Rhode Island
directly onto a 2 track DAT
master tape.
. The same site rates the album as #42 on the all-time highest rated albums, and as the fourth best album of 2005.
Stylus Magazine
's Rogue Strew hailed the album as "another stride toward the perfection of [Lightning Bolt's] prog-noise esthetic", while Prefix Magazine's Aaron Richter called it Lightning Bolt's "most accomplished effort to date, one-upping 2003’s Wonderful Rainbow
with a fresh sense of maturity." Pitchfork Media
s Brian Stosuy similarly described Hypermagic Mountain as the band's "most well-oiled album", but criticized that "somewhere in the middle a lack of variety creates a dull patch."
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band Lightning Bolt. It has a very dense sound composed entirely of distorted bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and loud, pounding drums. The band and their sound engineer, Dave Auchenbach, recorded the album in a house in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
directly onto a 2 track DAT
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
master tape.
Critical reception
Critical response to Hypermagic Mountain was very favorable, with an average of 88% based on 23 reviews on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. The same site rates the album as #42 on the all-time highest rated albums, and as the fourth best album of 2005.
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
Wonderful Rainbow
Wonderful Rainbow is the third album by noise rock band Lightning Bolt. It is considered to be their most accessible album, featuring heavy but catchy bass guitar riffs and frenetic drums....
with a fresh sense of maturity." Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
s Brian Stosuy similarly described Hypermagic Mountain as the band's "most well-oiled album", but criticized that "somewhere in the middle a lack of variety creates a dull patch."
Track listing
- "2 Morro Morro Land" – 3:43
- "Captain Caveman" – 3:19
- "Birdy" – 3:06
- "Riffwraiths" – 3:03
- "Megaghost" – 6:01
- "Magic Mountain" – 4:55
- "Dead Cowboy" – 7:58
- "Bizarro Zarro Land" – 4:47
- "Mohawkwindmill" – 9:38
- "Bizarro Bike" – 5:18
- "Infinity Farm" – 2:46
- "No Rest for the Obsessed" – 2:10
Album personnel
- Brian ChippendaleBrian ChippendaleBrian Chippendale is a musician and artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. Chippendale is best known as the drummer/vocalist for the bands Lightning Bolt and Mindflayer . He also plays saxophone and drums in a solo project called Black Pus...
– drums and vocals - Brian GibsonBrian Gibson (musician)Brian Gibson is a musician and artist based out of Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Gibson is best known as the bassist for the band Lightning Bolt, alongside drummer and vocalist Brian Chippendale, and as the drummer of Wizardzz, with Rich Porter of Bug Sized Mind, and Megasus. Gibson...
– bass guitar - Dave Auchenbach – recording engineer