Real talk, I know when Toni accepts a fuzzy stoner rock or metal premiere, it’s gotta be a big cut above the rest. He’s understandably not very big on the genre as it often stagnates and gets samey with its devotion to tropes of excess. In his words, it’s often horseshit – his opinion of course, but the fact that I’m even here writing this premiere is already a compliment in and of itself. Me? I love this shit, or at least the shit that really lays into melody or pushes the genre forward some.
Checking out This Summit Fever, it’s easy why this one made it in past our German PR bouncer. The band have quite the ear for the craft, understated in execution, but not skill. Really, it takes quite a bit of skill to use restraint and focus, and while I imagine only having two people helps scale that appropriately, it was also baked into the ethos of the band as they opt out of over-producing their stuff and doing what really matters: writing good songs. We’re premiering their new single and video today called “Currents” and the band have this to say about it:
‘“Currents” is 2nd lead track from the forthcoming This Summit Fever self titled debut album and it is a heavy weight. Opening with a slow, thundering, low tuned riff, Jim McSorley half times the drum beat demanding the listener to nod their head. This is the type of music that moves you, both metaphorically and physically. The lyrical subject matter of “Currents” is about accidentally falling into fast flowing water and disaster. Stand out lines in the pre-chorus ‘And the current, cradled me, And the river laid me down‘ lead the listener back to the main half time heavy riff.‘
True to its theme, “Currents” feels tranquil as it starts, like a hand combing through the cold surface of the water. The tones are purifying yet primal, the power of nature foreshadowed underneath and brought to fruition as singer/guitarist Andy Blackburn strums out enough rumble to make the San Andreas Fault blush. The build over the track’s four minutes is gradual, the chorus being the punchy core until the end of the song where you’re practically waterboarded by the riff. And I can’t forget the guitar lead in the middle that drives it all to that harrowing point. I’m reminded of the famous Bruce Lee quote on water and its many forms, or rather lack of form. Water is whatever it has to be in the moment and this song gives it various forms and purposes quickly and convincingly.
The video itself is serviceable and effective, showing two dudes that clearly have a love for the sound. An Orange amp – a stoner rock staple – sits in the backline like a totem enriching the magic at hand and it all comes off as more intimate than you’d expect. This genre is warm by nature and seeing two pals have a lot of fun producing it is infectious, the fun transferring to you in short time. Sorry, there’s no cure for it – you’ll just have to power through it just as the band do.
This Summit Fever are primed to drop their self-titled debut album through Majestic Mountain Records on April 4. Preorder physically through the label’s store site. You can also wade with the band in the increasingly cluttered and polluted waters of the internet via Instagram, Facebook, and Bandcamp.
