The Brickyard, Carlisle
11th March 2006
...Newly christened Mt have taken the essence of former band Ctrlaltdelete, added a new drummer and some more rocking riffs and come up with a highly charged sound. The post rock influence of their last band is still very vivid with softer melodies taking hold of the guitar and bass every so often but their sound has definitely progressed with the new line up.
Ben Maxwell, Laura Harrison and Robert Holmkvist played a great show, amping up the atmosphere nicely for headliners Capulet...
- Sarah Johnson
pennyblackmusic.co.uk
Mt. are one of the shining new lights of the UK post-rock scene, up there with Upc-Downc…, From The Sky and These Monsters, to name but a few. Of course, they existed as a band long before being known as Mt., under the guise of ctrlaltdelete, but ‘Lethologica’ still represents the Carlisle three pieces debut album. With the new name, there’s also a slightly different sound from the days of ctrlaltdelete, as Mt. are more melodic and layered, building tracks methodically into, more often than not, a pleasing finally. Oh, and the song titles are much shorter.
Recorded over the course of six days at Brickyard Studios, the highly anticipated ‘Lethologica’ begins as it ends, with some gorgeous electronic ambience, but the rest of the album sticks to the staple of guitars, drums and bass, layered together to produce a much bigger sound, and to the ill informed, Mt. sound like the work of more than three people, such are the subtle nuances involved in each track. Those loyal readers of The Silent Ballet will already be familiar with the first ‘proper’ track on the album ‘Add Obvious...
thesilentballet.com
Mt. are Ben Maxwell, Laura Harrison and Robert Holmkvist. The band released two eps as "ctrlaltdelete", epone (2003) and mondegreens (2005), and yes we loved them as well. This is the first under the fancy title. There is nothing but pure sonic enjoyment on this reord. “Add Obvious Errors” really gets this record cracking. The song takes you a nine minute journey of just power and majestic. If we were to be lazy here we would say that Mt. follows the Mogwai school of post rock the more aggressive and in your face stuff. “Between Now, and Then” brings out vocals! This is a pleasant surprised, as vocals sometimes can be very rewarding and if used right just shake things up alight and the use off that “ahhs” and “ohhs” just hit at the right marks. The last 45 seconds of the song are simply brilliant.
Mt. breathes new life into the traditional post rock formula. They make it fresh, powerful exciting all over again. This is an exciting, magical record, its time to get on this ship everyone.
- John Siwicki
comfortcomes.com
Editor's Pick
Motive Sounds, the record label that sent me this gifted debut from Mt., sends their promos in these little paper bags closed with a sticker, almost as if it contained some illicit drugs. Well as potent and dangerous as these hooks are, it might as well be a Schedule I narcotic. “Lethologica” is as I said Mt.’s debut featuring two members of ctrlaltdelete, Laura Harrison and Ben Maxwell. Drifting into the ambient shoegazing instrumentals of Explosions In the Sky and the abstract introspective of Mogwai, Mt. is an evolution of post-rock that is part experiment and part lab rat. Distancing themselves from the traditional trappings of indie rock or even post-rock, the group avalanches seas of guitar hooks atop light percussion and melancholic atmospheres. Keep an eye out for this outfit, you’ll need to jump at the chance of hearing them.
- J Sin
smother.net
"Go away, I´ve heard it all!" Well, I think in the case of Mt. [pronounced 'Mount'] this phrase is not correct. This is one of the most beautiful Post-Rock albums I´ve listened to lately. "Lethologica" guides you from climax to climax...an entanglement of sounds that rises to unexpected heights. Occasionally this album reminds me lot of Isis whereat the mood is a bit gladder, but still sentimental and touching. "Lethologica" is mainly instrumental...only here and there you can hear some vocals (which are really good and powerful). All the songs on "Lethologica" are at least 4 minutes long...the longest track is actually 12 minutes long. All in all an impressive album from a young and hard working band.
7/10
- RB
daredevil.de
Whilst Post-Rock is not necessarily a dying genre, but more a tiring one - there are the occasional bands that come along who add more 'oomph' to it, keeping it going and evolving into something more fresh and exciting. Comprising of two members from neighbour band 'ctrlaltdelete', Ben Maxwell and Laura Harrison - it's a joy of a CD to listen to.
Multiple layers of guitars at different harmonies dancing against frantic drums - occasionally thrusting into screaming guitars to create a kind of unsettling mood. Shoegazing instrumentals make them credible to that of Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai - the pioneers of the genre. Some tracks would be better live - the punch coming out of the speakers would send you flying into oblivion with Mt.'s logo burnt into your forehead.
Whilst parts of this album may remind some of God Speed You Black Emperor - consider Mt. to be a lighter version. But still brilliant - a great choice showing great taste from the highly respectable people at Motivesounds
velvetgrooves.co.uk
Lethologica: recorded in five [5] days; sounds like: Heaven -or- the warmth of four grandmama-made quilts on those arctic evenings in Virginia.
Lethologica: first, and rare, vocal [Laura Harrison] peeks out at 1:12 on the third track, "between now, and then". quite mesmerizing drum break at 3:45 on a track titled "worms and coffee". both the song + the track title sound risky. intelligent use of hand claps: 2:04 on sixth composition "too many escape darwin's attention".
Lethologica: motion-filled rhythms and swollen bellies of near-muted angst. never overdone with 'weight', balanced with non-lyrical emotion and instrumental precision.
motivesounds: when you open the mail - you know the contents hold spectaular sounds and design. it gets not much better than that.
ctrlaltdelete > Mt. { > = evolve. } «add Robert Holmkvist»
ctrlaltdelete {alt. vers.} = "so, for bringing me here - Bill Gates must DIE!"
- Kaleb
sctas.com
When post-rock hopefuls ctrlaltdelete vanished into the sharp Carlisle air, the world noticeably failed to stop turning. But it did feel like their particular story wasn’t yet over. From the ashes of that band comes the similarly endowed Mt. (that’s Mount to you and me), who, with their ‘Lethologica’ debut, sound like they care less about scenester attention and more about making noise like a tornado.
The parallels between old and new band come in the shape of a nice line in album art, an equally beguiling sound and the fact that this new group feature former ctrl alumni Ben Maxwell and Laura Harrison. So, if you are familiar with the duo’s former output, you can expect the same head-crushing walls of noise and crunching feedback, but there have been some changes. Yes, ‘Decline Into Shadows’ and ‘Worms And Coffee’ are loud enough to have you fearing for your speaker set-up but elsewhere and overall this is less like one massive thunderclap and more like the calm, the storm and everything in between.
‘Add Obvious Errors’ starts...
new-noise.net
Moving, violent and almost profound, Mt. create the ambient groove that sticks to you ribs, unlike most in the genre, they explore sound with intent, not just for its own sake.
Formed by Ben Maxwell and Laura Harrison from the ruins of their band ctrlaltdelete, they have added drummer Robert Holmkvist, who provides a solid anchor as well as contributing to the songwriting.
All seven songs have their moments of peace and of grandeur, from the opener, “The Labor of Progress”, through to “Worms and Coffee.” It is that willingness to explore a handful of dualisms—light and dark, noisy and quiet, hopeful and not—that causes you to pay attention.
“Add Obvious Errors” and “Decline into Shadows” particularly reach for the mystic in sound, and are mesmerizing.
“Too Many Escape Darwin’s Attention”, aside from being one of the best titles of the year, is also one of the most hypnotic grooves you are likely to hear.
As the title suggests, there is mystery and categorization still to be discovered, wonders ...
foxydigitalis.com
Mt.’s debut – a seven-track and forty-seven-minute offering encased in some splendidly neat packaging – doesn’t wander too far from the now-well-trodden post-rock path, but that’s not to say that the album doesn’t possess a number of highlights.
Lethologica’s strengths lie in the abilities of its three makers: Ben Maxwell, Laura Harrison and Robert Holmkvist. Between them, the trio craft some quite stirring passages of instrumental rock music that rarely relies solely on the standard quiet-loud-quiet template first made commercially viable by Mogwai and carbon-copied by next to every exponent of the genre since. Unfussy and unhurried, opener proper ‘Add Obvious Errors’ is a drama-filled number, its pace increasing with stealth and its peaks hidden by clouds of warm emotion. ‘Worms And Coffee’ possesses a menace that such a title surely can’t imply to anyone but the insane, and lengthy closer ‘Sense Of Wonder Still Intact’ twinkles and sparkles with all the beauty of the finest artists within this still-narrow field of play. It...
drownedinsound.com
Rising from the ashes of Ctrlaltdelete (whose album we rumbled in a previous edition) Mt continue to play drone/ noise orientated guitar rock, although this time there is more melody and the quiet/loud dynamics have matured and ripened so as to be more effective and unpredictable. All this is beautifully demonstrated on “Decline Into Shadows”(my favourite track), whilst final track, the 11 minute “Sense Of Wonder Still Intact” is a slow-burning monster, the tensions tightly controlled as the noise slowly engulfs you, until there is a sudden and unexpected change and the last two minutes are taken over by drifting electronics, ending the album as it began.
- Simon Lewis
terrascope.co.uk
Wow, don't know what to say about this other than that it's totally awesome. It's addictive, that's what it is!!! Here you have a bomb of an instrumental indie-rock, post-rock and noise-rock album that just keeps on building and building. Sometimes it's noisy, sometimes it's quiet, but it's always brilliant. I haven't heard about this band before, but if they make as much as one more move in their carrear, I want to know about it, alright? I think I might be addicted.
5/6
pastandpresent2.tripod.com
It's not Mogwai, is it? I said to my girlfriend upon playing this CD for the first time. And, well, it's not. But the further you get into this record, and the more you fall in love, the more you see that it's not even trying to be, they both just happen to make marvelous, epic post-rock songs.
It's more along the lines of Oceansize, but with the stripped down input of only having three members. Or perhaps it's like Biffy Clyro without the howling vocals of Simon Neil, forced to convey every bit of emotion through instruments alone. A job which Mt. do tremendously well (being as it is that only 'Between now, and then' has any vocals'.
It should be given an award for being to first album i've listened to, ever (I think) with eight minute long tracks that I actually want to listen to over and over again.
The next time you read about this band it'll be in the (credible) 'Best Album Of 2006' lists.
9/10
- Paul Whitlam
designerpunk.co.uk
Described as "the album ctrlaltdelete threatened to make", this release from Mt is a well-put together album full of instrumental beautys. This is enjoyable, relaxing and chilled out music, and Mt are one of the most atmospheric bands you'll ever hear. Definitely one for fans of bands like This Will Destroy You and The Little Explorer. Highly recommended.
myspace.com/killerdienamitezine
October 2006
spillonline.com
Tracking the Trends: United Kingdom VI - December 2006
Mt's Lethologica was a pivotal release for the young British record label MotiveSounds, which has shown itself to be dedicated to the cause of instrumental rock by releasing albums from Let Airplanes Circle Overhead, Capulet, and CtrlAltDelete this year. While all of the label's releases have been good thus far, it appeared like it was getting stuck in a state of similarity and really needed a band to break through to the next level and up the ante for the label, which is extremely important when the label functions as a close-knit family. The responsibility really rested on Mt, and not just because Ben Maxwell has ownership in the label, but due to the fact that they were the most experienced band on the roster. So how does Lethologica stand up? I'd be lying if I said Mt doesn't exceed all of these expectations. I've always been afraid that the band would venture off into "ambient guitar" territory, which would immediately get them them written off as Explosions in Sky or Pelican...
thesilentballet.com
The Top 50 Instrumental Releases of 2006
Fortunately for Mt., they're much better at making music than keeping a drummer. After a string of EPs, Lethologica is the debut album from the young English band. As a three piece, Mt.'s sound is not one that attempts to blow the listener away by sheer force. Instead, close attention is put on melodies and transitions, as well as time-signatures and overall cohesion. In all these areas Lethologica excels. The album does fall short in the drumming department (which, we suspect, is due to the revovling door of drummers attached to the band). Lethologica's drumming leaves something to be desired. If the act picked up an additional guitarist the drumming would be less of an issue--the added sound would do well to cover up the sloppy drumming, but as a three piece the drummer must be able to hold his own. As a debut album Lethologica is a solid album and the future is promising for Mt., and with a bit of adjustment this band will flourish...
thesilentballet.com
March 2007
creativereview.co.uk
So, Cumbrians, you wish to be pronounced 'mount' whilst being spelt Mt.: to be on the map, a landmark. And your chosen medium is a kind of largely-acoustic minimalism somewhat in the Reichian manner but with a stirring stormy StomuYamashtan thrash two thirds of the way through then returning slightly in the electro-gongy-windblown finale. Whether this be the aim or not it's pretty well achieved in this ambientish forty-seven minute construction. The percussion's very satisfying, while the short vocal section could cause some doubts, and a couple of parts veer towards lute/mandolin concerto on first hearing; the perceived balance may change with growing familiarity, as subtleties of texture work through. Thanks - I hope people take proper notice of what you've done, even if they wouldn't choose to describe it quite in the above terms.
4/5
- John Hepworth
leedsmusicscene.net
June 2007
die-gestalten.de
February 2008
idnworld.com