Earth

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1

Southern Lord 2011

For me, any new Earth album is to be treated as a spiritual experience.  Their somber and dry instrumental doom is a journey in self-exploration and contemplation.  Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 is a little stripped down yet more varied in texture than its predecessor, The Bees Made Honey In the Lion's Skull.  A weary and sorrowful tune echoes across the dry, dusty valleys on Old Black.  Shimmering western notes accent mournful cello and a deliberate beat as the song gracefully glides along.  A slow-motion jazz beat, slithers as ominous notes and melancholic cello sway like a gentle breeze on Father Midnight.  Dreamy basslines intertwine themselves with the cello as the mood becomes more forlorn.  However Descent Into The Zenith actually shifts its mood towards a more uplifting and positive emotion.  The guitars paint a sunny afternoon beneath blue skies with their relaxed melody.  Though the bass guitar continues inject an element of looming darkness waaaaaay off in the distance.  Probably the closest track to the previous album is Hell's Winter, though it lingers longingly on barren prairies wrapped in a light blanket of snow.  The drum line is like a weather-beaten traveller, trudging slowly towards the comfort of home which are alluded to by the straining cello.  The title track closes out the album and it is a ponderous affair, full of lightly droning sounds and free-floating instrumentation sewn together by a methodical beat and recurring western guitar notes.  Each Earth album is like spending long periods of solitude in the badlands, dry and desolate, you are provided with a moment's peace, to achieve mental clarity.  And as such, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 leaves me cleanses and pure, a testament to the singular focus this album provides.