Album Review: The Mountain King – The Smell of Stars and Vomit 2 (Cursed Monk Records)

Psychedelic drone doom mastermind, The Mountain King’s latest album, ‘The Smell of Stars and Vomit 2’ will be released on April 2nd 2021 via Cursed Monk Records.

 For nearly 5 years, since the summer of 2016, The Mountain King has been working on what turned out to become his longest, richest and most diverse release, yet. Split into two parts, this one-track-album, 95 minutes in length, and a semantic depth of 100 light years, is a brief history of the future of (one) man, an astronaut’s space opera. 

While working in space, an astronaut gets disconnected from his ship and floats away from earth accelerated by the blast of an unknown object’s impact.

After 96 hours of floating he feels that he reaches the end of his human life watching his thoughts and dreams passing by.

When he realises he doesn’t die and cosmic radiation slowly starts to melt his suit and individual together, the actual journey begins, leaving the person floating, pulled towards the inevitable meeting with a black hole.

Equally fascinating and daunting, set aside the time needed to fully immerse yourself in this record. There’s absolutely no half-assing it. You’re either all in or or not. It’s the only proper way to approach what is an absolute mammoth listen. One where words written can never fully do it justice. We’re talking about 95 minutes of story-telling wrapped up in a mixture of psychedelic and drone sounds.

Where it has both the power to have you sitting on the edge of the seat and equally, the power to send you drifting off into a relaxed dream-like state. There’s been nothing quite like this for some time. Oh, we’ve had plenty of fascinating drone and psychedelia that tells captivating stories but nothing with this much meat to the bones. Nothing that truly encapsulates the journey it is attempting to share. Nothing so long that also feels so short.

The difference between the two tracks? Night and day at times. The former is so relaxing and parallels can be drawn to the likes of Tool. Especially with the Maynard James Keenan style crooning which really says a lot about the Mountain King’s vocals. The latter is much stronger on the drone aspect and has uncomfortable elements that portray the horror that is beginning to unfold for the unlucky astronaut. Of course, that’s just a part of this story. There’s so much more to it, so much more going on, that the best way to understand it is to experience it yourself.

It’s a triumph and every passing moment feels like being out there. In the grand unknown, waiting to die. Join The Mountain King on a journey like no other. The talent of this artist can’t be understated.

The Mountain King – The Smell of Stars and Vomit 2 Full Track Listing:

1. The Smell of Stars and Vomit Part 1
2. The Smell of Stars and Vomit Part 2

Links

Bandcamp | Cursed Monk Records