The Black Angels & Black Mountain at La Zona Rosa [Preview]

The Black Angels & Black Mountain
Friday, November 19
La Zona Rosa (612 W. 4th Street)
$18, doors at 8 pm
[info] | [tickets]

Forget the Blackest of the Black tour…this show has all the color-sucking darkness you need. Dubbed the Dropout Boogie Tour, this jaunt features the Black Angels and Black Mountain pillaging clubs around the country. Austin’s Angels have had a strong year so far, releasing Phosphene Dream, their best album yet, on the revived Blue Horizon label and scoring an appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman. The current tour isn’t a victory lap, though - it’s only a warmup for the next round of triumphs.

Led by songwriter/frontdude Stephen McBean and singer Amber Webber, Black Mountain fuses the grunged-out power of 70s heavy rock with the winsome folk of indie pop better than anyone. Wilderness Heart, the Vancouver quintet’s acclaimed third album, splits the difference a little more starkly than usual - McBean has even proclaimed “It’s our most metal and most folk-oriented record so far - but the band has such a strong grasp on melody and is so comfortable with both heavy and light that if anything it makes the album even more appealing and accessible than previous platters. Live they could be even better.

The combination of Blacks Angels and Mountain should prove to be a loud, freaky good time for anybody with a taste for acid-dipped riffs and melodic drone. Illicit substances and paisley not required.

You can watch the video for the Black Mountain single “Of Fangs,” from Wilderness Heart, here. If you prefer old school BM, check out “Druganaut.” Sample the Black Angels with their Letterman version of “Telephone” or the video for their career-opening salvo “Black Grease.”

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.