The Mountain King and Gate To Xibalba teamed up for split album, out now via Cursed Monk Records
Drone/doom metal acts The Mountain King (Germany) and Gate To Xibalba (Sweden) have teamed up with Cursed Monk Records for their split album, which was just released on February 24th, 2023.
Tracklist:
01. The Mountain King – Rational Descent (Further Down The Hadal)
02. Gate To Xibalba – The Esoteric Knowledge Of The Stars
Courtesy of Cave Dweller Productions:
Drone has always been a polarizing genre, garnering either love or hate from prospective listeners. It’s a style of music that requires one to embrace it fully and to give oneself over to it for the duration of the listening experience (which as we know tends to be on the extensive side).
For many people this is a challenging thing to do, as they don’t receive immediate gratification. Yet, if they stuck things out the rewards would be truly wonderful. The Mountain King and Gate To Xibalba have approached this album with that exact mindset of effort and reward.
This is an offering that requires a certain level of commitment from the listener, but if they are willing to give what is required of them then they will find a thing of true beauty.
Both tracks gradually unfold as they progress, with rich textures and tones washing over the listener. The hypnotic repetition that drone is known for strips the listener of any concept of time and they feel themselves lost in this music, not knowing when it began or when it will end.
The split operates as much in silence as it does in noise. It is no easy thing to make the absence of sound feel equally as impactful and moving as powerful notes and textures, but both projects have successfully achieved this feat.
Don’t miss the chance to be taken on this journey into the world of sound and textures by the joint efforts of two incredibly talented acts.
“From a tone of sound to a ton, from a single drop to an ocean of frequencies, it’s not easy to find a way into drone. This brings both listeners and creators closer together than in other easier to explore genres.
Our two projects The Mountain King and Gate To Xibalba meet at the crossroads of drone metal to open the door to a beautiful world of opposites that others have been trying to seal forever.
Mighty drone guitars go fluently with ambient noise while crushing riff’s part the sea to make way for an even louder silence in space.
From Sweden to Germany, 2000 miles apart, but connected by our split “/”, we combine our unique powers to release a massively huge, emotional and reverbing 2 track piece of art, a 40-minute drone metal album, that haunts and relieves. We tear the listener away from their hell of everyday agony into a maelstrom of sound, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the outer reaches of the Cloud of Oort.” — Eric McQueen (The Mountain King)
Song 1 written, performed and produced by The Mountain King.
Song 2 written, performed and produced by Gate To Xibalba.
Mastering by JanGrimmMastering.
Cover photo by Steffen Albrecht.
Layout by Eric McQueen.
Get your copy here: cursedmonk.bandcamp.com/album/split-album
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well