Show Preview: Pontiak @ The Mohawk

In studying the history of metal, we constantly learn that the sinister sounds prevalent in the genre tend to be a product of their environment. The blue-collar culture and gloomy backdrop of Birmingham’s factories inspired Tony Iommi’s frightening guitar riffs (although that accident played its part as well). Pontiak might not fall directly into the same category as Black Sabbath but with thunderous riffs, eerie soundscapes, and miles and miles of slow burning psychedelic sludge, the Virginia based three-piece has carved a place for itself in Sabbath’s expansive family tree. Pontiak recorded its second full-length Sun on Sun in four days in a log cabin in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the raw texture and rumbling drone that marks record may well have been inspired by the landscape outside. The album’s aural aesthetic also reflects the unique acoustics of the makeshift studio and the result is an earth-shattering soundtrack to a day in the wild.

The Carney brothers, Van, Jennings, and Lain started Pontiak in 2005 after stints with various musical projects on both sides of the Atlantic. The band’s early material was released on the siblings’ label, Fireproof Records. Thrill Jockey Records signed them soon after and the aforementioned Sun on Sun arrived in 2007. Call it stoner-metal or neo-psychedelia, Pontiak’s lengthy jams will undoubtedly shake up the walls of The Mohawk tonight; local noisemakers Radioland Murders and Moses and the Burning Bush open.

[Pontiak MySpace]
[Radioland Murders MySpace]
[Moses and the Burning Bush MySpace]