Holy Mountain: It's Only Doom 'n' Roll

The result of a whirlwind creative partnership between guitarist Andy McGlone and drummer Pete Flett, Holy Mountain's live performances are largely improvised, deafeningly heavy jams that recall the headbanging brilliance of Sabbath at their sleaziest, coupled with an intense focus on the audience and their surroundings. Nearly always setting up in the middle of the floor, facing each other, and more often than not fuelled by McGlone's apparent wanderlust – clambering over tables, and even making it outside, mid-riff – these shows make for a highly unpredictable, and ultimately entertaining experience.

This is perhaps better summed up in the words of HM's own Andy McGlone: "At a Holy Mountain gig, you don’t just listen to music, you get physically riffed at," he explains. "You could get handed a guitar or high-fived at any point. We are not just there to play some songs." Echoing this sentiment, Flett chimes in: "Our sets feed off the crowd. We can sense whether a crowd is getting it or not. When they are, we’re amazing. When they’re not, we’re just awesome."

Introduced to each other through mutual friends, the pair hit it off instantly, making the jump from potentially awkward first practice to first gig in barely a week. "The first time we jammed, it just fit together," Flett recalls. "A lot of times after a first practice, someone inevitably gives it ‘it’ll sound bigger once we get another guitarist’ or ‘we just need to get tighter’. We were pissing ourselves at our first practice because we were so psyched about how awesome it felt and sounded."

Since that fateful day, Holy Mountain have embarked on a considerable amount of touring, utilizing their simplified set-up to play everywhere from a skate ramp in Birmingham to the back of a van. In between these impromptu and gloriously ramshackle appearances, the band have self-released a three-track EP – available as a free download and sold in person for a pound. The duo have also indulged in some rather 'adventurous' video projects – the ultra-explicit clip, Swifty Fuckwit, being an unsettling highlight – with the help of director and close friend Michael Sherrington.

In the spirit of the band's improvisational and spontaneous nature, all plans from here on in are pretty loose, and open-ended. But what can we expect, if anything, from the self-proclaimed 'two-manned anti-band' in the coming months? In cryptic fashion, McGlone leaves us with only half a clue: "We are recording some stuff at the end of this year/start of next, and hope to include some video stuff. We also want to do some more touring."

"It will also be our 1 year/50th show anniversary in January," adds Flett. "Maybe I'll treat Andy to a romantic dinner and a night cap."