4Q Magazine

Earth – Angles Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I (Review)

by 4Q on 23.02.11


Earth – Angles Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I

Earth first formed in Seattle in 1989, and their early work was stemmed in the Seattle area grunge scene. They are widely known as being the pioneers of the genre drone doom. They currently have six studio albums to date, with ‘Angles Of Darkness, Demons Of light II’ due in 2012.

Before this album, I hadn’t listened to any of Earth’s previous records, although I’ve known about them for quite a while I didn’t get round to listening to them until now. Opener ‘Old Black’ is a dark and bluesy, steady paced track, with guitars rising and falling with the rolling violin; it’s an uplifting song, although draped in darkness it brings itself out into the lighter tones, and creates a strong sense of emotion and character.

Most of the tracks on the album are lengthy; those who don’t’ like drone/doom music are hardly likely to be turned on by this record, but it doesn’t sound like it was made for those people. Dylan Carson and co clearly loves their style of music, and they are extremely good at what they do; create dense, distinctive music, which carries you along a snaking rhythm, creating emotion in an almost hypnotic way.

This record has tons more substance that the vast majority of soulless acts who purvey their music today; they have stuck to their style through the years, and although they have experimented with different styles, they remind me of Sonic Youth in some ways, like how they are pioneers of a genre of music, but have always remained largely out of the mainstream conscience.

Angles Of Darkness, Demons Of Light I is an absorbing and immersive listen, one that stands up my itself as a representation of the genre. I couldn’t compare it to their other works because I haven’t heard them, but on the strength of this record I can’t wait to hear what they came up with during their peak years.

This album is not the soundtrack for bright, carefree sunny afternoons, but rather for the cool tranquillity of nighttime, a perfect record for earmuff headphones, candlelight, and looking out at a silhouetted moon.

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