Gold Coast based noise merchants Snake Mountain have been a little quiet for the last couple of years.
Or to be more precise, since the band's last single The Hunted back in 2019.
While there are many (valid) excuses for the time elapsed between releases, all that people need to know is Snake Mountain are back, and, if possible, even more brutal than they were when they left us.
Touting a new, heavier direction, Snake Mountain unleash the proof of that claim at 7pm AEST January 25 via HEAVY with their latest offering Veins. True to form, Veins is an absolute beast of a track that channels the darkness inherent in The Black Knight with enough ferocity and venomous intent to ward evil-doers off for good.
Vocalist Neville Pearce sat down with HEAVY recently to run us through the new track and other happenings with Snake Mountain.
"It is definitely heavier," he affirmed. "It's heavier than what we have done before and that's due to the members that joined during the... Apocolypse that happened. We had a bit of a change in lineup where Kristian (Rousell, drums) and Jaymes (Jackson, guitar) joined us, and they just brought a new energy and a new style that I guess we have been chasing for a long time. Jaymes, in particular, is an incredible song writer. He loves his tech-death, as you can probably hear in the song, and he's just really brought some new energy and life to Snake Mountain that we've needed for a while. Jackson Price, as well, who has recently joined us has a tonne of ideas he is bringing to the band as well and it's been amazing working with him and of course Jared (Day, bass) who has been with the band for a long time. I feel like we're a really good unit and friends."
The press release calls Veins a demonstration of the new, heavier direction of Snake Mountain, a claim I pose to Pearce as being a little ambitious given their music is already heavier than a blow to the temple with a sledge hammer.
"The band started off many, many years ago with a totally different vibe," he measured. "When we started it had more of a Mastodon type vibe to it and it just got heavier over time, depending on the guitarists that jumped on board (laughs). But I'm into that sort of heavier tech stuff, so it's kind of more up my alley as well. I don't know. I don't know if there is heavier... I guess we could, and it's a challenge. I saw Werewolves the other night and they melted my face off, so maybe I will have to write a song called We Stole This From Werewolves (laughs)."
In the full interview, Neville dives deeper into Veins, the heavier direction, the subject matter and inspiration for the song, tying it in to the Batman franchise, upcoming shows, future new music plans and more.