Black Mountain Prove New Record a Serious Barnburner at Toronto Show

Vancouver psych-rockers Black Mountain took over Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern Friday night, unveiling mighty stoner jams off their soon-to-be-released album 'Wilderness Heart.' Winning over the sold-out room with heavy retro riffs and atmospheric '70s-era synth solos, the quartet illustrated why sometimes it's best to forgo stage banter.

Sure, the crowd didn't get an awful lot of personal interaction with Steve McBean and crew, aside from a plug for their forthcoming effort and the introduction of new songs like the record's moody, tripped-out title track, but the intensity of the performance would have been undermined had there been more chit chat-filled interludes.

Epic fuzzed-out tunes defined the night as the band offset brand new material with old staples like 'In the Future,' 'Stormy High' and 'Don't Run Our Hearts Around.' While fans were clearly enraptured with unfamiliar tracks such as the country-tinged 'The Hair Song,' which pits swirling carnivalesque keys against a perfectly on point duet between McBean and vocalist Amber Webber, concert-goers definitely perked up when the outfit launched into 'Old Fangs,' the righteous already-released lead single from the forthcoming disc.

Although Black Mountain only debuted a smattering of tunes off of their upcoming album, the gems that made it into the setlist more than prove that 'Wilderness Heart' is going to be an serious barnburner when it drops September 14.