Following up on the apocalypse theme that runs through so much of the writing on here, I present to you the wonderful sludge doom metal that is Earth 2. Dylan Carlson actually has been responsible for a lot of great stuff under the Earth moniker, but this is easily the best stuff from his early, doom-infused early period before he went towards happier environments.
Part of the appeal of this record is how quickly it drags you in. When interviewed about his influences, Dylan mentioned La Monte Young as a source of inspiration. Listening to the intensely repetitive almost hypnotic structures you do get a sense of a vast space similar to those created by that pioneer. Except here there’s a much bleaker tone due to the excessive threat, feedback and fuzz.
“Seven Angels” starts things up right. This is loud music. Play it loud. Experience it loud. Towards the end of the song all the sustained feedback and fuzz starts creating these interesting overtones that seem to quietly wail. It is excellent.
Deeper tones are explored in “Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine”. Each song (there’s only three) are edited together to make it feel like one continuous pace. The dynamics of every piece only contribute to this feeling. A slow pace mixed with similar focuses make the atmosphere positively oppressive (this is the greatest compliment I can give this).
The closer “Like Gold and Faceted” ends things on a meditative note. Somehow slower than the other two, this one has no melody whatsoever. Barely a riff is present; it is almost pure unaltered droning that expands into infinity. A drum comes in, but it moves at such a slow pace that it feels more like painting than any sort of rhythm.
If you wanted to know how the band Sleep or Sunn0)))) were inspired, here’s the place. A burly half-insane Washington State resident made this wonderful stuff possible.