For early incarnations of Earth, resonance, distortion and the drone of hooks and riffs channelled through the conduit of slow dense repetition were the staple, however their sound seemed injected with a boxed in and confined aesthetic. With their releases from 2005 on a new plateau or open expanse seemed to have been arrived at. The fixture of Adrienne Davies behind the drum kit and her drumming style, that gets in behind the beat, was perhaps the missing link that allowed Earth to open up and realise the expansive possibilities of drone: a free roam on a plateau of distortion instead of the – whilst at the time ground-breaking – churning masticating riffage of Earth early outings.
With the Angels cycle a new found minimalism has been achieved. Arrangements have been peeled back to allow the textures and sounds produced the space to come forward and articulate themselves and breath in the mix. Also the addition of the cello has laid mournful inflections that add to the stark foreboding journey of these two albums; that sound to be in no rush drawing them selves to conclusion.
A mood of a doubt lingered over the Earth as it entered the studio for the two-week recording session that produced these two albums. Prior to the recording session Carson was diagnosed with hepatitis, his future hung in the balance and with it Earths. It is well known that doubt is an epic thought and emotion that can lead to a myriad of expressions.
To give this myriad of emotions the scope to roam an open and expansive tabula seems to have been taken up. Unlike HEX from 2005, which used genre signposts to point out locations in the Western Americana, Angels seems to ditch the obvious genre signposts. Sounds are given more room to speak for them selves to relate to sounds around them and forge an abstract space.
This is abstract drone without much that can be classified as metal. Each instrument concentrates on the sustenance that can be elicited from each note played and sounds are brought forth to mingle communally. Yet the music of Angels isn’t so abstract that it’s without emotive impact and it also has a sense of identity. Essentially this is music from some place and some time that is accessible.
There’s an apparent linier mood and song structure progression to the track ordering form the gritty and overcast opening Old Black on the first album to the closing The Rakehell on the second. A continual process of striping away density and form whilst always retaining a stark foreboding mood – almost as if the two albums are a long roam macabre where the futures doubts are brooded upon, until they eventually morph into a free form funeral procession paced funk – guides this album through its engrossing space.
The Angels recording session constitutes the latest evolution of the band that has persisted at incorporating and naturalising new styles of play whilst being a band of the mythology of the American west: vast alone spaces with possibilities and option open. Earth has maintained its identity whilst exploring new options.
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