Customer Reviews

Earth 2

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

the album is three songs, full length. there are probably 3 riffs or so on the whole album. some may think: 'that's stupid it's probably boring' and to them, it probably would be. so why do i like it so much? for one, it's quite possibly the heaviest 'music' i've ever heard. 2- the sounds on the disc are incredibly hypnotic. 3- after listening to this record for any period of time i really feel cleansed in some way. it helps to clear my head. listening to it allows me to filter out everything else and just relax. it's like therapy, i can think of no other albums that have this effect on me. some come close, but they clutter up the equation with unnecessary sounds like vocals, drums, or hooks, or too many sounds in general. earth keeps it real simple with just guitar, bass, and minor percussion on the last track. this album is like the most pleasantly sedated state you could be in put to tape. listen to the samples, the songs are like that with occasionaly tempo changes from slow to earth-like speed only 20 minutes longer. i'd recommend the album to anyone who enjoys sounds as much as they enjoy music.

edit: after listening to this album many more times and paying much more attention, there are WAY more than 3 riffs. there are loads of changes, fluxuations, and extra tracks(from what i hear 17 guitar and 2 bass tracks) layered throughout the album. you are getting a lot of music if you purchase this.

The riffing on the first track aside, Earth 2 bears little relation to rock music as we currently know it. To put it simply, if you're looking for something that "rocks", you should probably pass this album up. However, if you're willing to immerse yourself in Earth's massive soundscapes and have the patience to listen to the album unfold from fairly standard Sabbath-esque metallic riffing ('Seven Angels'), to increasingly abstracted riffs ('Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine'), and finally to a heavy sustained drone with only microtonal variations and incredibly sparse percussion ('Like Gold And Faceted'), then you will find few albums quite as rewarding to listen to as this one. Set aside some time, turn up the stereo, put Earth 2 on, and immerse yourself in this mammoth of a record.

My god, people annoy me. This album is awesome; a continuous drone that graudally builds and builds inside you creating intense emotion. I'll be honest with you, this album has no lyrics so to speak, no drums, it's an extended study in the art of feedback and distortion, but if you can be bothered to lsiten it does have riffs! This music, and make no mistake, it is music, should not be dismissed just because it doesn't follow convetion as it has a hell of alot of power in it, listen to it loudly and you'll feel it coursing through your veins. Sometimes it makes me feel angry, sometimes it makes me feel calm and peaceful, it's just pure, raw i don't even know what. You don't need to "blaze" to get into this album, look on the back cover and you will see the following quote "forget drugs and alcohol... I am now very, very mellow". The music speaks for itself, I don't do any drugs and I think stuff like this is great. I don't even sit around all day in my parents basement doing nothing worthwhile. What's also great is how the record labels bands like earth and sunn are on charge so little, not being driven solely by money. Surely there must be something to bands like these because no one would buy their stuff if it wasn't good, just becasue one guy hears kurt cobain was on one of their albums and thinks "wow! these guys must be like nirvana or better still incubus!" don't let it put you off! Also, don't buy an album if you haven't heard it or arent' sure you'll like it (don't be a sheep either and buy it because other people think it's cool), but if you're a fan of drone metal or any other form of extreme music i would highly recomend this album and the sonic scape it produces in your head. I guess there's a time and a place for this kinda thing, obviously it's not gonna work on a birght summers morning, but i dunno on the one hand it has this evil, evil tone to it but on the other it sounds strangely pure, devoid of anything but untainted noise. So yeah if you like doom or drone music buy this album and enter a trance like state for the next 73 minutes of your life and if you don't like it make a club with that other guy who gave it one star. The only reason I don't give it five stars is becuase you can't give five stars to everything and I think that that magic number should be reserved for something truly transcendant like Panoptican by Isis or Welcome to Sky Valley by Kyuss. Eventually you should add this album to your cd collection...

not sure i would jump on the "ground breaking" bandwagon here,but as other reviewers have mentioned Earth more or less kicked-off the metal drone/noise/feedback subgenre.
the best point-of-reference i can give someone is to think of early 70's Tangerine Dream ( Zeit in particular comes to mind),but instead of an arsenal of moog synths,you have a heavily distorted guitar or two coupled with an over the top Bass presence that literally takes over whatever space the "music" is occupying -
heavy,indeed

If you a fan of Sleep, Sunn 0))) or just Heavy Metal in general, you can't go past this. Earth were pretty much the only band doing something different in the early 90's, with Metal. Slowing it down to a crawl, incorporating massively heavy riffs that drone on and on..This album, from the first listen, just takes control of you. It's trippy, adventurous, slow, inventive, and really above all, brilliant.

Like i said, if you are a fan of such bands as Sleep or Sunn 0))), then you'll love this. And it's really not the same old stuff. This is before Sleep and Sunn 0))). These guys influenced both bands. They, in my opinion more than any other band, invented this genre. So these guys deserve respect. In all honesty, before hearing this album and this band, i was thinking it wouldn't surprise me as much as it actually did. These riffs are amazing.

These songs go for a very long time too. So be prepared and make time to sit and listen to it, as listening to half a song would just ruin the whole experience. Really, if you are into drone/noise bands or music..This is the beginning of the genre. I would get this even if you are a casual fan of every genre of music out there. This is a must-have simply because it's Earth.

5/5

If you can appreciate the awesome subtlety of slowly changing rhythms and melodies, you will enjoy this album. Listen to it some night when you have a splitting migraine or nervous tension. I listen to it in my car while sitting in traffic. Road rage just seems to melt away. Turn off the lights, turn up the volume, close your eyes, and listen. You will be quite relaxed afterwards.

all of Earth's albums are brilliant, innovative and cathartic but Earth 2 is their finest work to date. Other reviewers have described the music on this disk fairly accurately so I won't waste time trying to come up with new ways of saying the same thing. But I would like clear up two points/complaints that others have brought up. First of all, this is a pscyhadelic and very dynamic album. The music is heavily layered with tracks of feedback, music and other stuff that is live and constantly changing- sometimes very slowly. Second of all, yes the disk is long- BUT that is part of the point I think. This is not a pop/rock album. This is a "peice"- it's thematic and artistic. You need to approach this album differently in order to appreciate it. It's 72 minutes long. A little less than your average movie. Think of it that way. You set aside some time to enjoy it... get some mind-altering substances... and listen to it, really loud, on a good stero system that can handle alot of low frequency/bass.
ps any musicians in the northeast U.S. who'd like to do something similar email me.

For all the attention Southern Lord Records has received as of late, whether for Dave Grohl's metal gimmick band Probot or for any of Stephen O'Malley's side projects (particularly Sunn0))) or Teeth of Lions Rules the Divine), this album has earned its place in doom/drone history as a milestone.

Despite Stephen O'Malley's blatant Earth-worship power drone band Sunn0)))'s enormous success (particularly for the style of music they are playing), this style of doom in particular is fairly limited in its sonic palettes and as such tends to wear on my ears a bit quickly. This is not to say that I do not enjoy this album (because hell, I wouldn't waste my time writing the review), but I would more accurately say that a little bit goes a long way. This stuff is hypnotic. This stuff is droney. This stuff is a bit unnerving if you listen to it too closely. But as effective as their approach is, Earth's stylistic leanings have pretty much been perfected and repeated so many times over now that it's almost tiresome to listen to Earth 2, even with the knowledge that they are the essential progenitors of the power drone/ambient/doom genre that has taken off as of late.

If you are a fan of Sunn0))) and aren't familiar with this band, you should be ashamed. On the other hand, if you're unfamiliar with both groups, grab a beer, turn the lights off, kick back, and space out.

some years ago i grew tired of trying to sample, appreciate, and actively listen to as many styles of music as possible as many people do

i simply stopped caring and focused on what i wanted to listen to

so, generally what i listen to for enjoying and experiencing music is indian classical music (favorite musicians : pandit pran nath, bhimsen joshi, shivkumar sharma, nikhil banerjee, z.m dagar, etc), traditional "religious" music in the vein of chanting monks and recitations of religious texts, and drone metal

those three categories - indian classical, traditional religious music from various cultures, and drone metal are very closely related although many might not see it

first, indian classical in many of the afternoon-evening-night ragas focuses on melodic modes that bring to mind sometimes sadness, sometimes despair, sometimes surreal moods of spiritual detachment, sometimes heroic moods of yogic practices, sometimes otherworldly joy, sometimes a serene sense of accomplishment that is unknown unless one achieves that state through spiritual efforts

in a sense, a musician who performs the ragas is basically telling you a story. he introduces the theme of the story and before you know it you're hanging on every note to see how things turn out. it's a journey that you go on with the musician. if the musician is a master, he or she will be able to conjure up feelings of supreme dignity that you were not aware of within yourself. in short, you will feel it to be a spiritual experience of a high and pure quality just by being absorbed in it.

second, traditional religious music such as monks chanting, the recital of religious texts, and music performed by such people, always has a goal in mind. it's never a meaningless past time. it's not just for a sing-along and they do not take it lightly. buddhist or hindu monks typically chant with the goal of bringing the mind into a highly receptive, meditative state where it is detached from the usual concerns and thought patterns of mind. this is achieved through a drone, often repeating several key phrases which are potent with meaning (mantras). the music they employ with instruments is also used for this effect - sometimes a droning wind instrument, or a loud crash of a cymbal or drum. it's all very grave. in theistic traditions, chanting is mostly the recital of texts like the qur'an and that sort of thing. here again there's the potent words, matched with spell-binding melodic lines which aim at bringing the mind to a certain state. for example, a well-trained (but also an emotionally intelligent) reciter of the qur'an can fill you with the fervor of islamic monotheism even if you have no interest in it. it's just so potent.

third, drone metal music seems, to me, to be born out of the above traditions. most of it isn't that great - it's very difficult for me to find some that i like, but earth2 is a great example of it. earth 2 is like the music of eliane radigue, but instead of a moog that drones it's guitars. yet the same effect happens - the drone reveals itself to be an atmosphere dense with feeling. when you surround yourself with earth2 it's like wandering through the himalayas, occasionally conversing with ascetic monks, looking up into a vast expanse of clear blue sky.

earth2 is a comfortable place to be mentally, although it has all the dark and sometims morbid qualities of indian classical and traditional religious music. it doesn't censor human emotions, even the darkest and most socially unacceptable ones. earth2 is comforting, but it's also dark. you won't like it if you cling to vapid states of superficial happiness. it will expose something within yourself that will make you uncomfortable until you learn to accept it.

i see dylan carlson as something of a visionary. he seems authentic, very real. he's been to interesting places mentally. he was the man who went with kurt cobain to buy his death weapon. his past seems dark but full of life. it's all in his music. listening to earth, one imagines that its creator is a scary sort of intense fellow, or at least a grungy junkie as made out to be in the documentary/film "kurt and courtney" by nick broomfield. and yet, when i heard him speak on a live recording, as he introduced his band, he sounded very polite and genuinely thankful to have an audience who may appreciate his music.

who might enjoy this album? anyone into drone metal music or drone music in general. any fans of other experimental drone or ambient styles may also enjoy this. drug users looking for an epic background for their chemical journeys. or anyone just looking to chill out in the midst of a hurricane of sound.

how should it be enjoyed? it should be heard in its entirety, without pause, on a moderate to high volume, headphones or good speakers, preferably in the dark, sober or intoxicated (contrary to popular belief, i do not believe that drugs enhance the experience of music, i think they temporarily loosen conscious boundaries that we carry with us - making the experience of music more engaging on a subconscious level, similar to how we experienced music in childhood - knowing this, one can hear it in the same way sober), and one should allow oneself to flow with the sound rather than listening to it bits at a time. the highest experience with music is to be bathed in it like sunlight or like the shadow of night - not to analyze little rays of sunlight as they touch your skin - i.e., take it in whole, not in part.

if anyone reads this and has similar taste to mine - could you recommend any other music?

Allright, I must say right off that this record is absolutely brilliant! If, however, you have a short attention span, do not buy this record! (The simple fact that the record is 72+ minutes long and has only three tracks should tell you something right there.)

Earth creates a wall of blisteringly intense sound by recording up to sixteen guitar and bass tracks, and then slowing some of these down beyond aural recognition. The result is phenomenal, and perhaps a bit misleading; on the surface, it appears as though the music changes very little. When one actually sits down and REALLY LISTENS to the record, however, one begins to notice a level of gorgeous richness and subtlety that is difficult to find in most music today. In the fashion of Indian classical music (music for sitar, surbahar, vina, etc.), the sounds are very densely layered, awash with microtones and flaring distortion-harmonic surges. The only difference is that, while Indian musicans are playing acoustic instruments, Earth achieves these same effects largely by hooking together an insane amount of distortion and overdrive pedals, and then tweaking them to match the main note/riff upon which the song is built.

When it comes down to it, it is incredibly difficult to accurately describe music such as Earth 2 using verbal language--this is a GOOD thing! I think that the harder music is to describe using words, the better it probably is. Earth 2 is one of those albums that gets very close to achieving the status of "Man, I don't know how to describe it, you've just got to hear it!." Get this one, play it, and drown your ears in a diamond-pure ocean of sound.