I heard of Earth first when I was a kid, just into doom metal and looking around on the internet to find new bands to listen to. Too bad things were quite primitive back then, I'd only read about this band and their unique approach to music. Napster didn't help and I just had to have them in my to-check-out list for the next few years. Then it was 2005 and thanks to Dylan Clarkson reforming the band and (by then the coolest thing called) torrents, I got to listen to their latest album and caught up with their early albums too.

While the early albums defined what's now called drone-doom, this (then)  new album called Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method saw them creating something completely new. With guitars almost completely clean with heavy reverb and echo effects, slow and heavily syncopated drums and also a keyboardist, Earth churned out some phenomenal western/country flavoured doom rock that was ethereal, miminal, crawling and epic. Riffs would linger on for a really long time while the build-ups slowly happen in a truly hypnotic manner. Earth then went on to release Hibernaculum in 2007, one of my favourite releases of the year, which was mostly a collection of songs from their early period reworked in their current western style.

If these two marvelous albums weren't enough as an alternative soundtrack to some poetic Sergio Leone moments, Earth in 2008 release their latest one called The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull. The band take their whole idea one step further this time around though. While songwriting has evolved and hypnotic melodies flow like never before, the main change is the fact that there's a complete layer of soundscape added here that just takes things to a totally new level for the listener. Like on Hex, songs are up to the 9 minute mark with at the most two or three movements to speak of on each. Those highly syncopated slow pounding drums still haunts the listener and the spacey keyboard creates the atmosphere of a climatic battle between Harmonica and Frank as good as Morricone managed to. And that's no easy feat. Like all the good minimalistic music, the fun occurs when rich harmonic textures and  slight tonal variations are added as the song progresses and these guys are absolutely at the top of their game here.

Bill Frisell makes a guest appearance on three tracks and adds his own flavour to the already well-crafted music. You get lots of harmonics, noisy noodling that somehow gels with what's happening in the riff underneath and some contrapuntal moments. The album closes with the title song and the tanpura ringing. This is probably the only occasion where the arrangements get lush and moderately loud with heavy synths, arpeggios and some near traditional overdriven guitar lines. As far as I'm concerned, this one is way more than a keeper.



Label: Southern Lord
Year of Release: 2008