Hypermagic Mountain
- Lightning Bolt
- Band Name: Lightning Bolt
- Record Label: Load
- Release Date: Oct 18, 2005
- Critic Score
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For an elite cadre of sound warriors, the disc perfectly bridges Slayer's demonic metallic riff majesty with the maniacally convoluted dynamics of French prog-rockers Magma. [Dec 2005, p.216]
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100This is a great record, if it is a record.
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The compressed, cleaned-up ferocity of Hypermagic Mountain is a leap of refinement in every way, a sign that the band, while lushly unripe, is ripening gracefully.
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Slightly less lo-fi than previous efforts--although as it blends together Slayer, Japanese noisecore and warp-speed prog intricacy, sound recording fidelity is a relative concept. [5 Nov 2005, p.45]
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90What blessed bastardry is this? It's bloody brilliant, that's what it is.
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90Better than anything they've recorded to date, Hypermagic Mountain approximates the swelling energy of Lightning Bolt's live havoc.
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At its most chaotic, Hypermagic Mountain could tear open a wormhole into Comets on Fire's Blue Cathedral.
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90Listening to Hypermagic Mountain is like picking up the live end of a downed power line.
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Essentially, the Brians don't really need to innovate that much anymore and instead are just fine-tuning their craft in glorious ways.
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For the initiated, there's true primal joy to be heard in this mammoth creation. You've just got to be willing to shed those tightly guarded notions and listen.
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80Although "Hypermagic Mountain" is no less a terrifying, red-eyed and rampaging behemoth than its predecessors, the duo have unleashed a beast that assumes a more recognisable form.
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80Lightning Bolt consistently sound like no one else. [Dec 2005, p.105]
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80Their heaviest to date. [Nov 2005, p.108]
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80The world's heaviest band turn out to have metal's lightest touch too. [Nov 2005, p.137]
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80One of the most rewarding and noisy records of the year. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.103]
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Even with its brief lapses, Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's most accomplished effort to date, one-upping 2003's Wonderful Rainbow with a fresh sense of maturity.
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If you were into Lightning Bolt before, there is no reason you won't absolutely love this album. If you were sort of sitting on the fence with them before, this may be the album that converts you into a fan.
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80There are no breathers in Hypermagic Mountain. There are only a series of knuckle sandwiches in the form of throbbing, distorting, gesticulating low-end ear bleeders.
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Underneath all the scuzz and spasm, though, they're a groove band, hustling a hard-edged experimentalism you don't have to work hard to enjoy.
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80With just enough experimentation to hint at new and future directions, while seamlessly blending improvisation and smartly conceived songs, Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's finest achievement to date.
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If what this drums-and-bass duo does with infernal noise is your thing, you're a pretty happy camper. [28 Oct 2005, p.89]
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73It finds the band climbing toward some unknown peak, and while it attains great heights, there's also a now-again sound of wheels spinning, and every reason to believe LB still haven't reached their ultimate destination.
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Hypermagic Mountain absolutely trounces nearly every other act in its general stylistic area. Regrettably, however, the duo's fourth album lacks the formal and emotional peaks and valleys that encourage listening and re-listening to albums in other less hectic and punishing genres.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 43 out of 73
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Mixed: 1 out of 73
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Negative: 29 out of 73
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AllanX10
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JasonB8
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AndyH10Brilliant, mesmerizing, and almost does justice to their live show.