Black Mountain Prophet: Notorious Sinner

Blues-rooted, hard rock debut from ye ol' Tennessee.

By Polly Glass
( Classic Rock )
published

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Brimming with bouncy, nostalgic lustre, Black Mountain Prophet couldn't be more 'old-before-their-time' if they had a Free-channelling track called Poor Ole Broken Heart and a faded picture of an old Native American on the back on their album sleeve.

Oh no, wait… Still, a heavy rock ‘n’ roll heart, sophisticated blues-rock guitar and a superb, soulful singer in Jarrod England guarantee Notorious Sinner a comfortable level of class.

Song craft, mainly on slower, drifty numbers like Love My Woman, isn’t fully matured yet; but when BMT hit sweet spots, they’re very sweet. Echoes of ZZ Top, Allman Brothers, Free and others feed into hearty yet cool riffs and vocal stylings. And Too Much Of A Good Thing might be the dumbest singalong we’ve engaged in lately, but it is a joyous track. Lovely.

Polly Glass
Polly Glass
Deputy Editor, Classic Rock

Polly is deputy editor at Classic Rock magazine, where she writes and commissions regular pieces and longer reads (including new band coverage), and has interviewed rock's biggest and newest names. She also contributes to Louder, Prog and Metal Hammer and talks about songs on the 20 Minute Club podcast. Elsewhere she's had work published in The Musician, delicious. magazine and others, and written biographies for various album campaigns. In a previous life as a women's magazine junior she interviewed Tracey Emin and Lily James – and wangled Rival Sons into the arts pages. In her spare time she writes fiction and cooks.