Moutaineater’s debut album is a veritable sonic gourmet of psychedelic noise rock of the calibre you'd expect from well-versed practitioners of the form. After years of touring, the Dunedin band present a truly formidable onslaught onstage. However, the album format also suits them well. The listener has the time and space to appreciate the more subtle details in the music which might be missed out on live due to the voluminous power they project.
Where "Gutterball" bursts out of the gate with a magnificent riff and upfront and forceful vocals from guitarist Tristan Dingemans, "Exegesis VII" and “Ch’an Ra” are more spacious psychedelic journeys, with some seriously kosmische guitar tones coming into the mix. The dynamic rhythm section of Chris Livingston (drums) and Anaru Ngata (bass) form a rock-solid foundation across the album, from the nervy math-rock groove of “Lord Of Sumo” to the faster, driving “Jerusalem”. Of course, like all great noise rock bands, there are moments on tracks like “Spider Baby” where the band descend into orchestrated chaos, knowing when to bring things back down to earth with aplomb.
Dingemans’ unique and instantly identifiable guitar sound will evoke the memory of his other band HDU from time to time, but it is very clear that Mountaineater is an entirely different beast: strident, rocking, blissful, and most emphatically heavy!
