Saying a record is a perfect way to ensure you slip into unconsciousness on your way to strange and fulfilling dreams might sound like an insult. It’s definitely not. I’m a person who likes to fall asleep listening to cosmic black metal playlists because the sounds relax me, and as much as they also can get my blood flowing, they can serve dual purposes.

“Dawn and All That Follows” is the fifth record from Bay Area post-metal power Mountaineer, and as they develop their sound, they dig further into that terrain where their music equally can rouse and calm you. Ever since their start in 2015 and first full-length, 2017’s “Sirens & Slumber,” the band—vocalist Miguel Meza, guitarists Clayton Bartholomew, Forrest Harvey, and Isaac Rigler, bassist Dillon Variz, drummer Jordan Norton—has been on a journey to refine their sound. On this eight-track, 48-minute album, the playing is more delicate and definitely has that early morning, pre-dawn vibe where you wake suddenly and then slip back into a dream state that carries you until sunlight strikes. It’s moving and powerful, a massive statement from a band that isn’t afraid to mix softness in with their heavier sounds.

“Cradlesong” opens in fluid dreaming, Meza calling, “Are you sleeping? Are you awake?” as the band works into medicinal numbness. The playing is lush and vibrant, the pace picking up as Meza reiterates his questions as if prodding someone, the guitars catching fire and working into “Hypnos” that drives with gazey power. At times pillowy, at others churning, the singing glazes, and everything pulses with energy. The playing picks up, the hits land heavier, and the vocals spreads kinetic energy, finally bleeding away. “Prism” gets off to a clean start, the singing rushing, the playing developing at a slower pace so that the drama can soak into your pores. The singing bursts as the playing follows suit, soaring toward the sun, the power jolting through melody, a final gust cresting and lapping back to sea. “Dawn and All That Follows” is dark and hazy, the vocals easing through warm pockets, and then shrieks rain and dice flesh. The pace takes chances as the growls smear, the playing settling into dreaminess, the calls easing as the final moments ice your brain.

“Testimonial” drips with freezing precipitation before the power bursts, strong singing rousing as the playing grows increasingly doomier. “I keep falling further and further away from myself,” Meza calls, wrenching with emotional intensity, repeating the call as frigid keys fall like daggers. “You Will Always Be One of Us” has guitars bending and a foggy feel, slower playing and softer singing landing, and then heaviness emerges and quakes the earth. Electricity pulses through your body as the emotion floods over, pummeling with fire and angling into “Dark Passenger” that echoes with siren-like noises. The playing is burly, shrieks sending jolts, the guitars liquifying and giving off a strange mist. The pace calms a bit before bursting anew, the energy surrounding you with impenetrable darkness, coming to a raucous end. Closer “Parallels” brings stinging guitars and rushing singing, pulling at your heart. The guitars rise and scar before pulling back, the leads layering as each level adds passion, Meza singing, “This moment can last forever,” as acoustics flood and fade.

“Dawn and All That Follows” is a record that took me a few tries to really absorb what is going on here, but once I did, the ride took me somewhere that my brain didn’t realize was possible. Mountaineer slowly have been moving toward this point over their run, and this new phase feels natural and stimulating, capable of even more exciting adventures in the future. It also doesn’t hurt that the music can wash over you and soothe frayed nerves, giving you a dose of heaviness while basking in energies that numb the senses.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/mountaineerbayarea

To buy the album, go here: https://www.athousandarmsstore.com/collections/mountaineer

For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/athousandarms