Earth - Father Midnight

Tonight in Stockholm at Strand! Earth and Sabbath Assembly! The fact that they play in the evening has completely passed me until I checked out a blog colleague's blog, crap, was my first reaction, hell was my second. Realizing that I will miss this. Actually bought their latest works on Vinyl during Record Store Day, the band are relatively new in my world but has been played a lot in the recent days, an awesome album simply. It will certainly be a cruel evening for those who get there.

So who are Earth?

Earth is an American musical group based in Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by guitarist Dylan Carlson. Earth’s music is mostly instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages. Their early work grew out of the Seattle-area grunge scene and is recognized as pioneering the genre of drone doom — an experimental offshoot of doom metal, characterized by droning, minimalist, lengthy, and repetitive structures. Earth's early albums were often recorded as a duo (Carlson and a bass guitarist), and could be seen as a variation of the experimental doom-influenced metal of The Melvins. Following a hiatus due to Carlson's personal problems, Earth reappeared with a markedly different sound. Their music was still slow-paced and lengthy, but now with a drummer and featuring strong elements of country music and jazz.

Earth’s brand new studio album, ”Angels Of Darkness, Demons of Light 1″, a fine testament to the fact that they have come a long way since 1989. Drawing on inspiration from both British Folk-Rock bands the Pentangle and Fairport Convention and the North African Tuareg band Tinariwen, the new material, while still ‘heavy’ is much more fluid and melodically oriented, less dense and more textured and nuanced. It contains greater improvisatory interplay between the musicians.

On one hand the new album acknowledges previous recordings, sonically it cultivates the jazz infused Americana presented on The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull and as a further nod to the past, Earth returned to Avast studios to work with producer Stuart Hallerman (Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Built To Spill, and Earth2!) again. On the other hand, there have been some significant changes which have given birth to yet another new sound, the main change being the line up and so joining Dylan and Adrienne on the album is cellist Lori Goldston (Nirvana, David Byrne, Black Cat Orchestra, Laura Veirs) and Karl Blau (K Records, Laura Veirs, Microphones) on electric bass.

Songs ‘Father Midnight’ and Hell’s Winter’ definitely retain some of their former glory on the Bees Made Honey… whilst the cello, though subtle at times, adds a more haunting tone to songs ‘Old Black’ and ‘Descent to the Zenith’ which are so powerful that they have the ability to move one to tears. It is the album’s closer and title track which is the boldest step in a new direction for Earth, utilizing the complimentary tones of cello, electric bass and Dylan’s guitar, leaving the notes to hang contemplatively in the air before Adrienne’s drum beats finally emerge. The repetition throughout the song is seemingly simplistic, though as we all know by now, there is absolutely nothing simple about holding a note or beat for as long as Earth do.

There are many breaths of fresh air in this new record, many hopeful tones and drones as well as more eerie ones. One thing is for sure, this incarnation of Earth excels all expectations.
Angels of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1: Arrived on February 2011.

Earth is:

• Adrienne Davies – trap kit and percussives featuring sea hooves and satans’ knuckles
• Lori Goldston – cello and devices
• Dylan R. Carlson – electric guitar and devices
• Karl Blau – electric bass guitar

The touring band will feature Dylan Carlson, Adreinne Davies, Lori Goldston, and Angelina Baldoz on bass.

Todays tune ”Father Midnight” is a track from the latest and sixth full-length studio album ”Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I”. Cello is introduced as a new instrument, along with the usual ones being used since the album Hex. Dylan Carlson describes the album as more melodic and riff oriented. The second part of the album will be released in 2012. The album illustrations were created by Stacey Rozich.



Here is a live clip with Earth live at Molotow, Hamburg, April 06 2009



Hear 'Father Midnight’ [12 min 11 sec]

Here can you download it!

Sabbath Assembly

Tourplan:

Apr 20, Strand, Stockholm, SWE, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 21, Tavastia, Helsinki, FIN, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 22, Friction Festival, Berlin, GER, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 23, Dude Fest, Karlsruhe, GER, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 24, Impetus Festival, Lausanne, SWI, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 26, Spazio 211, Torino, ITA, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 27, Init Club, Rome, ITA, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 28, Locomotiv, Bologna, ITA, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 29, Unwound Padova, ITA, with Sabbath Assembly
Apr 30, MC Velenje, Velenje, SLV, with Sabbath Assembly
May 1, Arena, Vienna, AUT, with Sabbath Assembly
May 2, Feierwerk, Munich, GER, with Sabbath Assembly
May 3, Beatpol, Dresden, GER, with Sabbath Assembly
May 4, Gebaeude9, Koln, GER, with Sabbath Assembly
May 5, Stadsschouwburg, Bruges, BEL, with Sabbath Assembly
Jun 8, Mayne Stage, Chicago, IL, with Ô PAON
Jun 9, Mad Planet, Milwauke, WI, with Ô PAON
Jun 10, Magic Stick, Detroit, MI, with Ô PAON
Jun 11, The Strutt, Kalamazoo, MI with Ô PAON
Jun 12, The Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH, with Ô PAON
Jun 13, Johnny Brendas, Philadelphia, PA, with Ô PAON
Jun 14, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, with Ô PAON
Jun 15, Middle East Downstairs, Boston, MA, with Ô PAON
Jun 16, Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, NY, with Ô PAON
Jun 17, Otto Bar, Baltimore, MD, with Ô PAON
Jun 19, Historic Southgate House, Newport, KY with Ô PAON

ps… Last year they were in LA on this very day with Wolves in the Throne room …ds

More info @
Official WebSite
Official MySpace
Earth at Facebook

None Spotify on this, will update as soon as it arrives.