The Hunter and the Potter Present the Mind Melting - Black Rider.

By Keir Nicoll

This band has a serious kickback to the sixties potential for psychedelic and classic heavy-to-metal rock, that they are bringing to the fore with this new song- ‘Black Rider.’ These swarthy, dark-clad gents, of The Hunter and the Potter, bring forth a metallic sludge, from the swampy, earthy, metal undertones of Vancouver. A four-piece, bringing equal parts, prog, old school rock n' roll and new wave. They have a complete sound that rocks out with both intensity and restraint. Like being swallowed by a whale, this leviathan of rock brings you into the belly of the beast, with each listen. They are a raucous crew, who mess with your mind and state of existence, as they present an extraordinary range of musical influences, ranging from Pink Floyd to Queen, early metal riffs, as in Black Sabbath and edging onto the new metal sounds of Queens of the Stone Age.

The Hunter and the Potter present a revivification of Led Zeppelin and local underground talents such as Chase the Bear. They produce a swelling vision for darkness, in their release of this new track, that regales of another being who is a strange and underlying threat. The track and accompanying video is coming from their self-titled sophomore EP, to be released in mid-February, 2021. In the lyric video for the song, there is a combination of the words from the song and artwork that looks like a combination of 60s psychedelia meets Rat-Fink. A touchstone of both classic and modern rock, these images help to bring the music into the foreground of what is going on now in the rock n' roll medium.

The song ‘Black Rider’ itself, starts off with a right-simple, climbing guitar riff, before launching into the more straight-ahead double-stop pull-off, that grounds the rest of the bars of the track. These guys are trying not to lose control, as they navigate the channels of a night's sight of another, who is challenging their very being. “Black Rider, stay away from me!” They shout as the guitar bars the way away for this opponent of the night. They stay away from an embrace that invites them into a pit of red spiders. They are leaving empty what someone else is challenging them to do or be. There is no way they are going to let the “Black Rider” get the best of them. They regale the beast to withhold his scythe, as they triumph over the darkness of the creature.

There is a rippin' guitar solo, as images of alien-dragons and strange wicker structures, float and flash across the video screen. The song invites a sing-along, for anyone who has felt accosted by the strangeness of a demon-dweller, who has brought forth to the light, the underwhelming neurosis of existence. They're trying to keep above and not to be drawn down into the underworld again, as death eggs them on to desist. They taste the sweet defeat of their opponent, who won't draw them down into the depths of “The Valley,” as the put it. The “Black Rider” is a nefarious character, they want nothing to do with. They seem to want to avoid the dream of their existence. Likewise, they want to avoid this person, who is causing them grief.

This is not the first time that a “Black Rider” has appeared in a song. The Hunter and the Potter are breathing life into a character, who has haunted the dreams of many a person, who have inhaled the dark smoke of a netherworld being. Look and listen for them, as they come to the forefront of the heavy-rock medium, grooving and shaking to the intensities of their like and dislike for the mediums of the dark. This is an excellent taste of what is to come for this deeply promising band.

Check out this absolutely banging track here.

Check out the video below