Vancouver, Canada ’s Bison B.C. can be described best as “mountain metal.” Hailing from the far reaches of nowhere can have a lasting affect on you. That’s evident when you name your band after a huge, hairy animal that roams around in, well, nowhere. But the name accurately describes Bison B.C.’s music. It’s hairy and ugly, but also strong and majestic, often pictured in legends and lure.

Let’s just make it simple; if you love Baroness or Mastodon, you’ll love Bison B.C.

Dark Ages is a straightforward version of those bands. They have their moments of lengthly instrumentation but not to the extent of their contemporaries. In other words, you won’t have time to roll up your joint and smoke it before the actual songs really start to kick in. When they’re not roaming around in their abbreviated jam-land, Bison pulls shit together with some real metal influences. From heavy, downtuned riffs, thrashy and distorted guitars, and near-death metal vocals, this is an album that truly packs the power of the band’s namesake. This is a huge record; the shortest song clocks in at more than five minutes and the longest at more than eight, but it doesn’t seem like it, a sign of good writing and execution.

Fresh off my two-month bender with Baroness’s Blue Record, Dark Ages hit me hard with a revelation; this may be just as good as that heralded album. Well, it may be. Not bad for some hairy mountain men.

Standout tracks: “Stressed Elephant,” “Melody, This Is For You”