Portland doom metallers Witch Mountain have shared a cover of Spirit's 'Mechanical World' which is set to feature on their upcoming self-titled album.

The band's drummer Nathan Carson originally got into Spirit as his parents owned one of their records. "As my Spirit LP collection grew, I played this song for [guitarist] Rob Wrong," says Carson. "He recognised the riff because it had been sampled in the Brother Ali song, 'Sleepwalker'. That was cool because it meant we each had a connection to the song, from different angles.

"We both thought 'Mechanical World' was classic, unique. So we played it for Justin and Kayla in the tour van, and they both latched onto it immediately. We especially liked hearing a woman sing these lyrics without changing the pronouns. That always freshens things up. Our arrangement is the same as the original, but tuned down a few steps to make it heavier."

The original track featured on Spirit's 1968 debut album. Initial plans for Witch Mountain to save the cover as a b-side were changed after recording the final version and deciding it deserved a place on the record. "In the sixties, bands were always putting cover tunes on their albums," says Carson. "That's something we'd never done before, but it felt right here."

Witch Mountain's latest album sees new singer Kayla Dixon and bass player Justin Brown join the fold alongside Rob Wrong and Nathan Carson. The album is set for release on May 25 via Svart Records.