Review Summary: Earth continues the sound explored on their past few albums. It's an excellent display of their musicianship, but not as great of a sign of progression.
As far a musical stories of rebirth go, Earth's is one of the most fascinating. After pioneering the now-hip drone doom genre with 1993's ground-and-eardrum-breaking "Earth 2," Earth (led by guitarist Dylan Carlson) went onto make a few more records until Carlson went on a musical hiatus after good friend Kurt Cobain's suicide. (Part of Carlson's struggle was with the fact that he purchased the shotgun that Cobain killed himself with; he, of course, was not aware of Cobain's true intentions for the gun). Then, curiously enough, the band came back, with a whole new sound palate, in the form of 2005's "Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method." "Hex's" slow meters are much like the dirges found on Earth's early recordings; sonically, however, Earth's new sound was more akin to the sparse, Americana-laced tones of Ennio Morricone than the downtuned, heavy riffs of Black Sabbath. The band may no longer sound like the band that wrote "Earth 2"; fortunately, Earth's new incarnation is excellent, and absolutely befitting. Earth's s-l-o-w tempos are perfect for their country-tinged experiments, and Carlson's guitar tone has never sounded better. He may not shred like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, but he is nonetheless a master at his craft.
Earth's new sound culminated masterfully on 2008's "The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull" (the title of the album is itself a Biblical allusion to the band's early-century reinvention), a rich record that, in the course of a mere seven songs, fully demonstrated the mastery of the band's new sound. Twangy guitars played atop flat piano melodies, lustrous organs, and drummer Adrienne Davies' soft, jazz-styled drumming, all forming a sparse yet layered desert soundscape. The record was a marvel; it was a true sign of growth for Carlson; it took him fifteen years to make "Bees", yet given the album's mastery it seemed absolutely worth the wait.
Unfortunately for many bands who make amazing records, the most difficult part is making another record after that. Such was the task for Earth when they announced "Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light," a two-part album, this record being the first half. The title is epic enough to make any casual listener think that these two records would form Earth's magnum opus, as is the epic creature battle on the album's cover. Interestingly enough, the music on this record isn't nearly as grand as the title and the cover make it out to be. It's surprisingly stripped down from "Bees;" instead of organs dominating the album's background, creaky cellos wind their way in and out of each song, backing up a stripped-down instrumental lineup. The change is to be expected; "Bees" was a great record, but not a record that Earth needs to keep remaking over and over again, any more than they need to recreate "Earth 2." Evolution is natural, so when analyzing a record like this, the question is whether or not this is the right step for the band.
The album opens with "Old Black," and, aside from the cello, it seems like Earth is back at their old new game. The song is a perfect demonstration of Carlson's mastery with guitar effects; the vibrato in the main riff and the wah-wah pedal as the song comes to a conclusion are a continuing brilliance of Carlson and the direction the band has taken. "Father Midnight," the album's second track, continues the tone set by the first track, carrying it on for a nice twelve minutes (it's nice to see Earth back to making longer songs; not a single song on "Bees" broke the ten minute mark). As does the rest of the album. By the third track of the album, unfortunately, it seems that, unlike "Bees," Earth is taking their new sound and instead of expounding upon it is merely reiterating it with different variations. While "Bees" did have an overall sound, it didn't always manifest its the same format on each song. The album had its sounded like Earth whilst also bringing in jazz, rock, and folk. There's no doubt that "Angels of Darkness" is an Earth record; however, it seems a little too comfortable in its homogenity. Very little distinguishes each track from another (aside from the excellent opening and closing tracks); the music's good, sure, but as an album the whole thing doesn't quite pack a punch as past Earth recordings have. Some might argue that the band is merely refining their sound instead of trying to reinvent themselves, and that is indeed what Earth find themselves doing on this record. Unfortunately, the refining doesn't come out as, well, refined as the band wants it to do. Even the choice of using the cello as a primary instrument isn't all that much of a refining step for the band; the instrument was present on "Bees," albeit much less than its presence on this record.
Although this may be a step down for the band, this is still an Earth album, which means the music is still phenomenally made. This is a good album, despite the fact that it doesn't quite live up to the band's past potential (which is admittedly quite high). Earth is comprised of phenomenal musicians, and it's hard for phenomenal musicians to make a bad record. Fortunately, despite the fact that the album may not be wholly on par with past efforts, moments do arise throughout the album that highlight the excellence we've come to expect from the band, in particular the eponymous final track. Earth know how to slowly and sloooowly build (they did invent drone, after all), but the track is a remarkable exemplar of Earth's ability to plod along. Beginning with the bass and the cello playing moodily alongside each other, the song is then later joined by the sparely picked guitar and the steadily plodding drums. This goes on for a solid twenty minutes which, of course, to most people is mind-numbingly long, but for Earth it's right at home. It's a sign that, although perhaps the album as a whole isn't exactly the refining the band strove for, Earth's creative engines are still running. And as long as those engines are dedicated to making the music that Earth have made, I'll still look forward to the release date of each new LP.
