Hypermagic Mountain is the fourth studio album by American noise rock band Lightning Bolt, released October 18, 2005.

Hypermagic Mountain
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 18, 2005
RecordedMay 29 – June 21, 2005[1]
StudioProvidence, Rhode Island
GenreNoise rock
Length56:44
LabelLoad (LOAD #78)
ProducerDave Auchenbach
Lightning Bolt chronology
Wonderful Rainbow
(2003)
Hypermagic Mountain
(2005)
Earthly Delights
(2009)

Background

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The band and their sound engineer, Dave Auchenbach, recorded the album in a house in Providence, Rhode Island directly onto a 2 track DAT master tape.[2] The album is a clear continuation of the sound they established on their previous albums, featuring a very dense sound composed almost entirely of distorted, often-processed bass guitar; loud, fast drums; and indiscernible vocals buried in the album's mix. The album's artwork was drawn by Brian Chippendale; the album's title was not decided until after the artwork was finished.[3]


Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic88/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]
Alternative Press5/5[6]
Blender     [7]
Entertainment WeeklyB[8]
Mojo     [9]
NME9/10[10]
Pitchfork7.3/10[11]
PopMatters8/10[12]
Stylus MagazineA−[13]
Uncut     [14]

Hypermagic Mountain was met with near-universal acclaim, with an average of 88 out of 100 based on 23 reviews on Metacritic.[4] The same site rates the album at number 145 on the all-time highest rated albums,[15] and as the fifth best album of 2005.[16] Stylus Magazine's Roque Strew hailed the album as "another stride toward the perfection of [Lightning Bolt's] prog-noise esthetic",[13] while Prefix Magazine's Aaron Richter called it Lightning Bolt's "most accomplished effort to date, one-upping 2003’s Wonderful Rainbow with a fresh sense of maturity."[17] Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy similarly described Hypermagic Mountain as the band's "most well-oiled album", but criticized that "somewhere in the middle a lack of variety creates a dull patch."[11] Joe Martin, in CMJ New Music Monthly, said that the album's "craft-refinement has an exhilaration all of its own".[18]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Lightning Bolt

No.TitleLength
1."2 Morro Morro Land"3:43
2."Captain Caveman"3:19
3."Birdy"3:06
4."Riffwraiths"3:03
5."Megaghost"6:01
6."Magic Mountain"4:55
7."Dead Cowboy"7:58
8."Bizarro Zarro Land"4:47
9."Mohawk Windmill"9:38
10."Bizarro Bike"5:18
11."Infinity Farm"2:46
12."No Rest for the Obsessed"2:10
Total length:56:44

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain, retrieved 2023-04-20
  2. ^ Licht, Alan (December 2005). "Lightning Bolt". The Wire (262). Retrieved January 23, 2008.
  3. ^ Weingarten, Christopher (2005). "Deep Cover: Lightning Bolt". CMJ New Music Monthly (136): 50.
  4. ^ a b "Reviews for Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt". Metacritic. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  5. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Hypermagic Mountain – Lightning Bolt". AllMusic. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  6. ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Alternative Press (209): 216. December 2005.
  7. ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Blender (42): 137. November 2005.
  8. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (October 28, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Entertainment Weekly. p. 89.
  9. ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Mojo (145): 105. December 2005.
  10. ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". NME: 45. November 5, 2005.
  11. ^ a b Stosuy, Brandon (October 18, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  12. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (December 22, 2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". PopMatters. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  13. ^ a b Strew, Roque (October 24, 2005). "Lightning Bolt – Hypermagic Mountain – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on February 20, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  14. ^ "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". Uncut (102): 108. November 2005.
  15. ^ "All-Time High and Low". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  16. ^ "Best Albums of 2005". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  17. ^ Richter, Aaron. "Hypermagic Mountain – Lightning Bolt". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  18. ^ Martin, Joe (2005). "Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain". CMJ New Music Monthly (136): 41.
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