Mount Eerie – Clear Moon / Ocean Roar

Mount Eerie’s latest albums show a perfect contrast: tranquility and disorder. Clear Moon feels emotionally satisfying with elements of Elvrum’s past concepts embedded (the black metal elements of Wind’s Poem, the folk ideals of Lost Wisdom and the pop layers of The Glow Part 2) while still adding new concepts.

The clear (ha ha) tranquility of Clear Moon is contrasted with Ocean Roar‘s focus on disorder, but the albums share elements of one aother. Clear Moon shows disorder with songs like “Over Dark Water” and “Lone Bell” that both lack the same calm feeling “The Place I Live” brought. Ocean Roar shows the same peace and tranquility as Clear Moon with “I Walked Home Beholding” and part of “Pale Lights.” Heck, the title tracks of both albums lack the same feel the rest of the album brought.

In a sense, both albums feature elements of each other so perfectly well while still being their own entity that their contrasts compliment each other. As “Through the Trees Part 2” stated: “There is either no end. Or constant, simultaneous. End and beginning.” Elvrum has gone full circle with both works with his most ambitious effort to date.

By Ben Phillips