For those of you who don’t know, the new Earth is a two part
album that was recorded in the same session during 2011, but the second half
was released at the beginning of 2012. This time, Carlson’s guitar work is
supported by Davies on drums who has been with him since Hex, but now he
has a new bassist (Karl Blau) and a cellist (Lori Goldston) on his side as
well. Most people who are interested in this have probably heard it by now, but
if you’ve been stuck on a desert island for a while, know that there is no
direct metal approach made on the Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light. A
drone metal legend has firmly shifted ground to drone blues/country. Not a hint
of distortion can be heard on these two albums, and yet somehow (surely not
just through mental connotation) the metal is there, rising to the surface in
bubbles that never quite burst, a palpable yet hidden presence.
The two parts of Angels… definitely form a whole, but
one wonders how it is meant to be listened to, as altogether the album would
run for one hour and forty-five minutes (part II being the shorter,
forty-five minute segment), which is a lengthy haul even for a hardened drone
fan. Or we can listen to them separately, which seems strange as the two albums
are clearly parts of a whole. More than likely it’s meant to be listened to any
way the listener wants, and my preferable choice would probably be to listen
only to part I, as this second offering seems meandering and
less-than-profound some of the time, especially on the first two tracks. After
that weak beginning, Davies hits the drums again and it returns to the same
style of repetitive blues motifs that were so lovely on the first half. The
last three tracks are nice. Earth is really, really chilled out these days.
This is music to splay yourself out on the beanbag to with a small bottle of
whiskey and a ponderous mind. And it is good. But unfortunately, I felt it was
an unnecessary continuation of part I that does not have the same level
of epic melodic quality. This is probably because the album loses its momentum
on “His Teeth Old Brightly Shine”, a track on which the guitar noodling frankly
irritated me (but not in the way of the whinging cheese solos that were the
only downfall of ‘08’s The Bees Made Honey…). As the album is
essentially comparative to its first half, this pitfall pretty much sends it
into the limbo of albums you kind of like but will never listen to again.
Carlson and Davies play brilliantly, and Goldston’s cello subtly supports the
band with a velvet undercurrent, but in my opinion they should have crammed
this all down into a single album which could have run for an hour and ten
minutes easily.
In summary: Not as good as its first half, and so similar that
there is no real reason to put this in your stereo a second time, but viewed in
its own light it’s a pretty decent little piece of country drone.
Standout tracks: "Rakehell"
Score: 6.5
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