By and large, I think it’s safe to say that it’s never been a better time to be a fan of psychedelic rock. For all that it’s capable of in its numerous different forms where even the slightest change can make for a massive difference, there’s plenty to fawn over and fall in love with given what the current landscape of the genre has been capable of putting forth. Heavy psychedelia, in particular, is having quite the golden age with all sorts of bands coming out of the woodwork to show us what they can accomplish. As a rising name of such, Mount Hush was hotly talked about four years ago with its first full-length album, and now it’s here with their second they’re sure to repeat history.

While there absolutely are names out there that dominate this particular corner of psychedelic rock, there’s perpetually room for more names to wriggle into the conversation given the sheer fluidity and organic nature of the sound itself that lends to innovation, personality, and pizzazz to be then name of the game in damn near every instance. In no small way, Mount Hush proved to bring all three and more to the table in heaps with their first album, but it has got to be with the arrival of the simply named “II” that, in my opinion, Mount Hush has tapped into a vein of the genre that many attempt yet incredibly few rarely harvest with substantial yield and the finesse to pull it off. Across eight tracks a little under forty minutes, “II” is a spell-binding listen that brings forth so much of what has always made heavy psychedelic rock the powerhouse genre that it was always meant to be from the varying levels of groove, lucidity, and punch A meditative listen but never wanting to sit still for long as Mount Hush chooses to crack open and explore the universe for all that it can offer rather than letting all the splendor pass them on by, to fall into this record is come face-to-face with an amorphous mass that never once takes a true corporeal shape and simply revels in not being tethered to a single plane of existence.

Enticing and fascinating in practically every given minute, 2024 is ending off on a truly high note for all things psychedelia with this creation. It was four years ago that Mount Hush threw down a testament of certifiable excellence, yet it’s here within all that “II” dares to offer that we see the band’s destiny taken to the maximum without compromise, blemish, or hesitation. In no small form, Mount Hush has brought mastery and the pinnacle of art to the conversation.

LISTEN to “II” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Mount Hush on Facebook here.