Sleeping Mountain’s self-titled debut record carves out a sound that feels lived-in and mysterious. Blending stoner, doom, and desert psych influences with a cross-cultural perspective, the London-based power trio builds an atmosphere thick with folklore and existential tension.
From the searing opener “Humans” to the hypnotic “Akelarre,” each track is carefully layered. Songs like “Walls of Shadows” and “Alibi” capture internal battles without leaning on cheap theatrics, while “Tennessee Walking Horse” introduces an unexpected Southern psych-folk thread.
The album closes with “Medusa,” a slow descent into emotional entanglement. Rather than chase big gestures, Sleeping Mountain opts for subtlety and depth, inviting listeners to sit with each track.
We caught up with Aitor from the band to unpack the stories, ideas, and experiments behind this striking debut.
Interview with Sleeping Mountain
Third Eye: “Humans” opens the album with a protest against societal apathy, even sampling Network. What inspired you to start there, and how does that set the tone for the rest of the record?
Aitor: We wanted to set the tone for what our live shows feel like – raw, energetic rock and roll – right from the first second of the album. That’s why “Humans” opens the record the way it does.
Opening with that Network speech felt powerful because, even though the film is nearly 50 years old, what it says still rings true. We’re still stuck in the same cycle, people are angry, disconnected, overwhelmed, and numb, or too sensitive.
That speech is a wake-up call, and it mirrors the feeling behind our music: frustration with apathy, with passive living, with the way society pushes people to accept things as they are. We wanted to jolt the listener awake from the first second, to say, this album isn’t background noise. It has something to say.
Third Eye: There’s a recurring exploration of folklore and mysticism, particularly in tracks like “Akelarre” and “In the Land of Burning Witches.” What role does mythology play in your songwriting?
Aitor: We’re drawn to storytelling, not necessarily retelling old myths word for word, but using them as a source of inspiration to talk about things we all go through. Loss, heartbreak, betrayal, fear, inner demons… These are universal experiences.
Mythology gives us a poetic and symbolic way to explore those emotions. There’s something timeless about how those old tales are told, and we think that style of storytelling fits naturally with the kind of music we make, or at least that’s how it feels to us.
Third Eye: The song “Akelarre” draws from Basque tradition. Was this a nod to personal heritage, or more broadly, a tribute to resistance and ritual?
Aitor: Some of us do have Basque heritage, but the choice of “Akelarre” was more about finding a word with the right weight and meaning.
The song tells the story of a group of women in an old coastal village who’ve lost their partners to the sea. In their grief, they gather to summon an ancient force they believe can bring their loved ones back.
But things don’t go as planned, instead, they fall under the control of a forgotten demon, becoming lost themselves, bound to serve something far darker than they imagined. It’s a story about loss, desperation, and, most importantly, the danger of surrendering to something you don’t truly understand.
Third Eye: “Tennessee Walking Horse” is a surprising track. What inspired the Southern psych-folk direction, and how did that song come together?
Aitor: That track really reflects how I writes most of my songs, I listen to a lot of folk and Americana. If you listen to the whole album with that in mind, you could probably play and sing almost every song with a resonator guitar, deep in the woods by a fire, with a bottle of rum in hand.
“Tennessee Walking Horse” is built around an analogy for a toxic relationship, something most of us have been through. The Tennessee Walking Horse is a breed that gets its legs weighed down from a young age, and when that weight is finally removed, its movement becomes this strange, almost beautiful spectacle.
I saw that as the perfect metaphor for what it feels like to finally break free from something that’s been holding you back. The lyrics are definitely personal, almost like a biopic in song form.
Third Eye: How involved were you in the visual aspects, like the music video for “Akelarre”? Do visuals play a significant role in how you present your music?
Aitor: We’ve always seen the visual side as just as important as the music, they need to feel connected and cohesive.
With “Akelarre,” Alexis and I came up with the concept together: the idea of witches summoning something ancient. So, we actually wrote the music with that vision in mind, more like a soundtrack for the video than a video for the song.
That’s often how I work: I picture a story or a visual world first, and then I write music to match the mood and aesthetic. Alexis directed the video and had a strong vision for how to bring it to life visually. He really nailed the atmosphere we were aiming for.
Third Eye: There’s a dreamlike quality to some of your more narrative songs. Are you inspired by specific writers, poets, or filmmakers when constructing these lyrical worlds?
Aitor: I’m really drawn to that eerie, folkloric atmosphere you find in films like The Witch, Apostle, or Coven of Sisters, where myth, landscape, and human desperation all blur together.
Directors like Robert Eggers have a huge influence on how I think about storytelling, that mix of historical detail, mysticism, and dread. It’s not about jump scares or shock value, it’s about something slow-burning and unsettling, where you feel the weight of old beliefs pressing in.
That’s the kind of atmosphere we try to build in our more narrative songs, stories that feel ancient and haunted, but still rooted in real human emotion.
Third Eye: You have a string of live dates across the U.K. this year. How does your sound evolve or shift in a live setting versus the record?
Aitor: What you hear on the album is basically what you’ll hear live. We do use backing tracks for certain sound effects and interludes, but everything is arranged with the live show in mind, no layered parts we can’t actually recreate on stage.
Some people have strong opinions about backing tracks, but I don’t see it as cheating. To me, it’s about giving the crowd the best possible experience, that’s what they’re paying for. Not to sit there judging whether we triggered a synth or played it live.
We’ve only got two hands, and rather than spending months looking for someone else to join the band, which we’ve done before, often ending in frustration, we keep things simple and focused.
No complex harmonies we can’t reproduce with a pedal, no unnecessary third guitar parts. Just raw, direct, and honest, the way we intended it.
Third Eye: What’s next for Sleeping Mountain?
Aitor: Right now, we’re wrapping up preparations for StoomFest. After that, we’ll start pre-production for the next album over the summer while hitting the road with Wet Cactus.
Our goal is to play as many festivals as possible in 2026 and really push the new record live. We want to keep the momentum going and take the next step as a band, both creatively and on stage.
We’ve also got a few songs that didn’t make it onto the album due to time constraints, so we’re planning to release those as an EP in the near future.
Check out Sleeping Mountain’s debut LP here.
Sleeping Mountain: Bandcamp | Official Website
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