Doomed Confessionary: Count Boogie, Lord & Jean (Mount Palatine)

Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, Mount Palatine grew from long term musical chemistry and years of playing together. What started as casual jamming in 2020 soon evolved into a powerful creative force driven by improvisation and instinct. The trio features Jean the Baron on guitar and vocals, Count Boogie on bass, and Lord of the Groove on drums.

Their sound moves from crushing sludge charged riffs to hypnotic psychedelic atmospheres, from fierce screams to ethereal clean passages. Every song becomes an immersive journey shaped by groove, weight and transcendental moods.

Drawing inspiration from doom, stoner, sludge, progressive metal and psychedelic rock, Mount Palatine create a signature blend that is intense yet fluid, spiritual yet grounded. Operating first under the name The Paladin, they released their debut album »Cockroach Crusade« in 2024. As their identity grew clearer, the band embraced their new name as a symbol of expansion and artistic rebirth.

Mount Palatine, with their combination of visionary songwriting, cosmic heaviness and raw energy, are now ready to open the next chapter of their journey and invite listeners into the depths of »Wormholy World«. Their new album »Wormholy World« will be released on February 6th, 2026 via Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records.

Can you please say a few words about your band?
Mount Palatine is three young old guys diving deep into the grooves to find their musical rabbit hole. It all started with the idea that playing some stoner would be fun, but look where we are now. And yet… where are we?

What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Fortunately, we haven’t faced any major challenges yet, but in a way it felt natural when we had to leave behind our long-time rehearsal space at Hakkila Art Village, as our landlord, Saarni Studios, moved operations out to the countryside. Luckily, we’ve recovered from it, even if bouts of homesickness have crept in from time to time.

What can you be most proud of so far?
The easiest answer is probably our next album, which will be out soon. But digging a bit deeper, and speaking mostly through Count’s voice, we’d say that what matters most is that we managed to kick this whole thing off after several years of musical silence, and have since turned it into a band that records and plays live. Even more than that, we can say that we genuinely enjoy doing this and rocking out.

What was your biggest regret?
In a way, we’d rather not even go there, but it’s hard to dodge an honest answer. The original choice of name (The Paladin) wasn’t really thought through that much, and we ran into too many bands with similar or almost identical names. Honestly, we can’t even say we really regret it, especially since we made our peace with it and, in the process, found a name for our band that feels truly our own and under which it feels great to rock.

What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We would say the first two shows of our newly started tour, which we played right at the beginning of the year. These gigs were the first shows of the »Wormholy World« tour for our album to be released in February, and at the same time the first shows we had played after the name change we made in the autumn. Semifinal in Helsinki and Bar Kotelo in Tampere are both great venues to play, but for the reasons mentioned above there was an extra charge in the air.

What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Maybe a somewhat random answer, but the scene itself? It encompasses a really wide and diverse range of styles, from psych to doom, stoner to sludge, prog to fuzz. What’s ultimately common here? We’re not sure we know the answer, but the vibe is good, and in some way everyone seems to share a similar attitude toward making music. That’s what unites it.

What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
It probably depends on who you ask: Count would name Behemoth, Blood Incantation, and Weedpecker as latest, while Jean’s rotation also includes Isis, Poets Of The Fall, and the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir.

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Who knows why, but the advice he received was rather scarce. While Count was completing his mandatory military service, and as part of this practiced a marching song with his brother-in-arms, his comrade encouraged him by saying, “Don’t worry, there’s nowhere with as much space as next to a note.”

What are your guilty pleasures?
To return to the fact that we’re no longer young punks but rather young old guys, it has to be said that there are plenty of pleasures, but the guilt or shame about them is now as thin as a fart’s veil, even when you recognize it. Honestly, who knows, good old grappa? But really, no reason to feel guilty about it!

Can you say something more about the current music scene in Helsinki / Finland?
The doom, stoner, sludge, psych, whatever-you-call-it-scene is alive and breathing both in Helsinki and across Finland. There are a lot of bands, they’re really good, and it’s been awesome getting to know more of them now that we’ve become more active on the live circuit ourselves. Of course, there could always be more shared events, joint shows, and festivals, but at least we’re doing our part to help keep the scene alive.

Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
On the ongoing tour, it’s possible to catch us live in Finland in Jyväskylä, Turku, Helsinki, and Vantaa. Hopefully in the future also at some of the scene’s great festivals, such as Desertfests, Bearstone, Krökbacken, Sonic Rites, or even StonerKras.

What are your plans for the future as a band?
In the bigger picture, our plans are probably very similar to those of most other bands: to tour and to make more music. We’ve already started working on our third album, and the jams are already well on their way to turning into new songs. The plan is to keep touring after this tour as well, as soon as we get more dates locked into the calendar. For now we’ll likely keep criss-crossing our home country, but the idea of getting out to play abroad is definitely burning in our minds too. We’d also love to get on some festival lineups.

How can people best support your band?
Listen, share, show up and show love. Every drop matters and counts.

Do you have any message for your listeners?
Dive deep into the heart of the groove, for there’s no finer way to drift away from the ceaseless currents of thoughts and burdens.

Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well