Hypermagic Mountain is the fourth studio album by American noise rock band Lightning Bolt, released October 18, 2005.
| Hypermagic Mountain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 18, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | May 29 – June 21, 2005[1] | |||
| Studio | Providence, Rhode Island | |||
| Genre | Noise rock | |||
| Length | 56:44 | |||
| Label | Load (LOAD #78) | |||
| Producer | Dave Auchenbach | |||
| Lightning Bolt chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background edit
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.[2] The album is a clear continuation of the sound they established on their previous albums, featuring a very dense sound composed almost entirely of distorted, often-processed bass guitar; loud, fast drums; and indiscernible vocals buried in the album's mix. The album's artwork was drawn by Brian Chippendale; the album's title was not decided until after the artwork was finished.[3]
Critical reception edit
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 88/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Alternative Press | 5/5[6] |
| Blender |  [7] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[8] |
| Mojo | [9] |
| NME | 9/10[10] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[11] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[12] |
| Stylus Magazine | A−[13] |
| Uncut | [14] |
Hypermagic Mountain was met with near-universal acclaim, with an average of 88 out of 100 based on 23 reviews on Metacritic.[4] The same site rates the album at number 145 on the all-time highest rated albums,[15] and as the fifth best album of 2005.[16] Stylus Magazine's Roque Strew hailed the album as "another stride toward the perfection of [Lightning Bolt's] prog-noise esthetic",[13] 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."[17] Pitchfork's Brandon 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."[11] Joe Martin, in CMJ New Music Monthly, said that the album's "craft-refinement has an exhilaration all of its own".[18]
Track listing edit
All tracks are written by Lightning Bolt
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "2 Morro Morro Land" | 3:43 |
| 2. | "Captain Caveman" | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Birdy" | 3:06 |
| 4. | "Riffwraiths" | 3:03 |
| 5. | "Megaghost" | 6:01 |
| 6. | "Magic Mountain" | 4:55 |
| 7. | "Dead Cowboy" | 7:58 |
| 8. | "Bizarro Zarro Land" | 4:47 |
| 9. | "Mohawk Windmill" | 9:38 |
| 10. | "Bizarro Bike" | 5:18 |
| 11. | "Infinity Farm" | 2:46 |
| 12. | "No Rest for the Obsessed" | 2:10 |
| Total length: | 56:44 | |
Personnel edit
- Brian Chippendale – drums and vocals
- Brian Gibson – bass guitar
- Dave Auchenbach – recording engineer
References edit
- ^ Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain, retrieved 2023-04-20
- ^ Licht, Alan (December 2005). "Lightning Bolt". The Wire (262). Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher (2005). "Deep Cover: Lightning Bolt". CMJ New Music Monthly (136): 50.
- ^ a b "Reviews for Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt". Metacritic. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Hypermagic Mountain – Lightning Bolt". AllMusic. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Alternative Press (209): 216. December 2005.
- ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Blender (42): 137. November 2005.
- ^ Greenblatt, Leah (October 28, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Entertainment Weekly. p. 89.
- ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Mojo (145): 105. December 2005.
- ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". NME: 45. November 5, 2005.
- ^ a b Stosuy, Brandon (October 18, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (December 22, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". PopMatters. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ a b Strew, Roque (October 24, 2005). "Lightning Bolt – Hypermagic Mountain – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on February 20, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Uncut (102): 108. November 2005.
- ^ "All-Time High and Low". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ "Best Albums of 2005". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ Richter, Aaron. "Hypermagic Mountain – Lightning Bolt". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
- ^ Martin, Joe (2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". CMJ New Music Monthly (136): 41.