Horseback – The Invisible Mountain

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By the time Relapse Records got their hands on North Carolina post-metal act Horseback’s The Invisible Mountain, it had already been released and sold out by two other labels. Any time the demand for an album exceeds the supply so much that it needs three releases by three different labels, the expectations for that album are going to fly through the roof. Such was the case with The Invisible Mountain, which drew favorable comparisons to Isis and Neurosis before most of its target audience would ever have a chance to hear it. Once Relapse began their distribution of the album, though, it was clear that some of the praise the album had received was misplaced. Yes, Horseback sounds a lot like Isis, but so does most every post-metal band, especially when they’re American. Typical of their style, Horseback’s new album consists of four very long songs, and unfortunately also typical of their style in an era where so many Neur-Isis worshipers have record deals, their length is not totally justified by their content. The first three songs are standard (albeit competent) post-metal fare, rarely pushing any boundaries that haven’t been grazed a thousand times before by genre forebears like Cult of Luna and Mouth of The Architect. It’s on the album’s fourth and final track, Hatecloud Dissolving Into Nothing, that Horseback truly hit their stride. The twenty minute opus seamlessly fuses the buzzing drone of early Earth with the shimmering desert rock of that band’s later output, and it offers glimpses into the great band that Horseback have the potential to be with some more unique songwriting and a few more years of experience. Now that Relapse is footing the bill, it would be shocking if they don’t develop into that great band within the next three or four years.

Written by Brad Sanders
More: 2010, Albums, Post Rock/Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Horseback