With a band name like Cold Blue Mountain and photos of them on horseback on the album insert, sonically, these guys turned out to be way different than I had guessed. There are five tracks on this 12” release and each one is a journey. Start out with beautiful lead guitar work backed by pretty picking on a rhythm guitar, slowly build the drums, add long bass notes that tie in well with the melodies, drop a powerful, breathy growl over top, and you have this five piece from Chico, CA. A good portion of their style is sludgey stoner metal with songs about epic clashes, which I believe to be metaphors about the man, but they could just really be into battles, ala 3 Inches Of Blood. They throw in a few unexpected instruments on Old Blood as well. These nuances blended together so well that I didn’t notice them at first, but there’s a mix of keyboards, tambourine, cello, and violin. Fans of Nux Vomica and Owen Hart will dig this.
–Kayla Greet (Halo Of Flies)