LimeWire Music Blog

Mount Eerie main man Phil Elverum is as prolific as he is talented: The man spits out a masterpiece or two just about every year. He he has always been among the most captivating of lo-fi guitar dudes, a talent he most recently demonstrated on 2008’s lovely, mellow Dawn. Elverum’s newest album, Wind’s Poem, shares with Dawn a fascination with the natural world. But Wind’s Poem is a more somber affair than its predecessor. In fact, if ever a Mount Eerie album were to remind one of doom metal, this would be the one. Elverum is as soft-spoken and thoughtful as always, but this time he sings against a backdrop of heavy cymbals and drone. The album opens, with “Wind’s Dark Poem,” on a blast of anxious percussion and screaming guitar feedback; on the instrumental track “(something),” an open, otherworldy, chiming sound rises out of a swamp of amplifier fuzz, only to sink back in again. Wind’s Poem is definitely a departure, but Elverum executes it with grace and skill. It is rarely ever this enjoyable to see an old dog learn new tricks.