The album is named after the mountain Mount Erie near Anacortes, Washington, which is the hometown of Phil Elverum, the band's frontman.

Elverum establishes a metaphor for life in which he depicts the womb, birth, and through to death, in the second-last track.

His lyrics depict a cast of characters, while the music includes cinematic drums, choirs and drones.

Elverum explained: "from where I grew up, the south side, [the mountain] has a pretty dramatic rock face, and so it was always looming there, especially from where I caught the school bus".

[2] Mount Eerie was recorded between November 21, 2001, and June 10, 2002, at Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia, Washington.

[1] 2 sections of the album, labelled "Big Black Death" and "Wind / Vultures" are solely attributed to Kyle Field and Karl Blau respectively.

Elverum describes Mount Eerie as "a continuation of the sound that concludes The Glow Pt.

[5] Elverum used different vocalists to represent different characters because he wanted the album to be more ambiguous and theatrical.

While touring Florida, the presence of the sun, and the state's "menacing" atmosphere led him to writing the chorus of the song.

[5] Elverum used the melody due to it being stuck in his head, and noted "our friendship during that time was very freely giving and taking from each other’s ideas and notebooks.

"[5] For the choir of "IV: Mount Eerie", Elverum put up posters in Olympia, Washington, asking for singers.

Some lyrics from the album were inspired or directly taken from lines in Elverum's journals, which date to late 2001.

[3] Mount Eerie is a concept album,[6][7][8] portraying a linear storyline with distinct characters.

Adam Dlugacz of PopMatters interpreted that Elverum uses the climb of Mount Eerie as metaphor for life after continuously seeing the mountain while growing up in Anacortes, Washington.

Eric Carr of Pitchfork described the drums as a "heart-like pulse"; they gradually build up and become more complex.

[9] The drums sweep across the stereo channels, which Carr describes as "evoking either the rising and setting of our star, or the revolution of Earth".

[9] According to Elverum, the track's first five minutes represent time in the womb, and that the section until 10:42 spans the first 24 years of life.

[8] Once vocals enter and Phil[a] is born, he is forcibly chased up the mountain,[8][13] by a personification of Death riding on a black ship.

[9] As the song finishes, it is consumed by a wall of distortion, which Carr describes as "a deafening drone and crash of cymbals".

The wall of noise from the previous track is cut back into an acoustic strum, described by Carr as "delicate".

[5] According to the liner notes written by Elverum, Headwaters, when Phil begins a sentence with "see me" he is speaking to the sun.

As the lyrics portray, "But Universe, I see your face / Looks just like mine / And we are open wide".

After recording finished for Mount Eerie, Elverum moved out of his house in Olympia, Washington, went on tour, and spent a winter in Norway, writing material for Dawn (2008).

[20] On its release, Eric Carr of Pitchfork gave the album the publication's "Best New Music" title, and scored it an 8.9/10.

[13] Stylus Magazine's Ed Howard wrote that Mount Eerie makes listeners "get to travel with him [Elverum] into the uncharted next ocean of Microphones territory.