Mountainwolf are a trio out of Annapolis, MD, Chris Gipple (bass), Thomas Coster (drums) and Tyler Vaillant (guitar, vocals). The Silk Road is their debut full length released in June 2015. The Silk Road blends together 70's heavy rock with 80's alt/grunge, throws in a little doom, a smattering of psych and whole lot of Mountainwolf. Absolutely paralyzing riffs! Slow enough for fans of uber-doom and loaded with mind bending groove and melodically grungy croons sure to please the more rock and roll oriented. Has a very Lo Pan'y sound but injected with enough hallucinogenics to send you spiraling on a trip to outer space on a rusted chard of heavy metal.
The album kicks off with \"The Jam\" five minutes and four seconds of stoner excellence incorporating loud quiet loud grunge dynamics, gritty stoner riffage and moments of psychedelic subtlety. \"Wine x Weed\" utilizes a dirty fuzzed up doomy riff around a low key, mournful vocal that then descends into spacey atmospherics with Vailllant using a ton of effects to create a lysergic, cosmic mood while Gipple and Coster hold it all together underneath until it all kicks off again at the end. \"LSD\" is one of the stand out tracks on the album with it's phased guitar riff repeating over and around a delicious vocal. Vaillant pulls out his best solo on the album here, slightly Iommi-esque and with plenty of bluesy feel. \"Mountainwolf\" sees the band nod their heads towards \"Pearl Jam\" with a track that would not have sounded out of place on that bands album \"Ten\".
\"Via Amorosa\" is a nice little groover that goes from grungy doom into cosmic madness in the final third. \"Hyphy Blues\" is an all out rocker with a totally infectious guitar lick that sits over the main riff. Closer \"Via Dante\" almost topples \"LSD\" for best track status, full of moody atmospheric psych and acid blues guitar pyrotechnics. Overall The Silk Road is one mind numbing, skull crushing debut from a band that shows amazing promise for the future. Get the album today, your neighbors will thank you.
