Labels: Sickroom
Review by: Andy Malcolm
This one takes some getting through. Transmontane is fairly relentless and morose sounding, although at such a singular pace that I never really stopped to listen to the lyrics, he could be full of the joys of the spring for all I know, however I suspect that is not the case. The music is bleak, with a country influence, and it conjures up an kind of image like a black and white movie of pioneers ploughing their way westwards across America in a storm of dust. And whilst I appreciate the general sound and direction this is headed in, across the course of 11 tracks it just gets a little too much and it could just do with something else to break things up a touch – it’s track after track of plodding, distorted guitar and sorrowful vocals, with no drums. If this was Transmontane’s “Mission Statement” then they are totally “on message” here, they nailed it, but boy, if you’re going to make it through to the end of this one you’re going to either need it on in the background or be scraping along the bottom already. For the utterly resolute.