Earth: Angels of darkness, Demons of Light II

With an ever-changing lineup and erratic schedule of releases, Earth is a hard band to keep locked in your sights. Their latest release, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II, continues to explore the sound established on its predecessor (AoD,DoL I). If you heard last year’s release and enjoyed it, then this one’s a no-brainer: stop reading and start listening.

Those who haven’t heard Earth since the pre-hiatus days of the early-mid ‘90’s may do well to prepare themselves for a perspective shift when encountering the ‘New’ Earth. Though still slow and heavy, and remaining true to the drone/doom aesthetic, a psychedelic sound becomes more and more apparent with each subsequent Earth release. With a fuller line-up, the instrumentation conveys an understated elegance that their music was previously lacking. Early Earth is about as subtle as a brick to the back of the head, but Earth now sounds more sophisticated in their execution of sludge.

Lori Goldston (whose cello adds the most character to the sound of both albums) has joined the roster for both the Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light releases, along with bassist Karl Blau. While front man/guitarist Dylan Carlson remains the only consistent member of Earth since its inception 23 years ago, Adrienne Davies (drums/percussion) wins runner up for having played on every album since 2005’s Hex. The cast for AoD,DoL II is exactly that of AoD,DoL I, which marks the first time (I think) that the same musicians have appeared on two consecutive Earth records, but since Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light is really a two part set, it makes sense that the members are the same for both. You wouldn’t re-cast roles in a film halfway through shooting. Since there hasn’t been any mention of continuing with a third installment, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next album brought yet another incarnation of Earth.

The riffs aren’t as intricate as they were on say, The Bees Made Honey in the Lions Skull, but the sound is just as huge. It’s not as thick though, in fact it sounds almost hollow, with lots of room for the sound to bounce off itself. The addition of the cello darkens the tone and deepens the texture. II differs from I in that it creates a bigger atmosphere. There is less progression; the tracks are a little less engaging, less grabby. The swells created by the interplay of strings on “The Corascene Dog” for instance create a shimmering ebb and flow, like moonlight reflecting off the receding tide.

“Waltz (A Multiplicity of Doors)” sounds like the type of slow doom-jazz I associate with Bohren & der Club of Gore, again with cello in place of the equally mournful saxophone. This is the song they play for the last slow dance at the senior prom in hell, right before everyone drinks the punch and dies, only to awake the next day and relive the nightmare all over again. “The Rakehell” meanwhile, sounds like The Black Keys on the worst day of a heroin bender. (I mean all of this in a good way.)

Earth may not be for everyone; their type of sound kind of forces you to change the way you listen to music (at least this kind of music), and that’s not always easy to do. But if you can tune your ears to the right frequency, the rewards are great.