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EARTH, "LIVING IN THE GLEAM OF AN UNSHEATHED SWORD"
One of a recent clutch of new(er) releases by Earth, Living in the Gleam of an Unsheathed Swordcontains two live tracks, both recorded in 2002 as Dylan Carlson andAdrienne Davis reunited in for a series of live shows in the US andEurope. Earth's music has become something of an obsession for thosetuning into the current wave of imitators — Sunn O))), Black BonedAngel, Boris, etc. — but for those who were listening to Earth backduring early 1990s Sub Pop years, recordings like this seemanachronistic and retrograde.
Troubleman Unlimited
Earth's sound was certainly determined inpart by the Seattle grunge scene of which they were peripherally apart, and also by the overcast, gloomy weather, epidemic heroinaddiction and economic disenfranchisement of their Olympia, Washingtonhome. Inspired, it seems, by Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi's musicalresponse to similar conditions, Earth not only adopted the originalname for Black Sabbath, they also copped the heavy, oppressive,resonant blues riffing, bringing it to an entirely new level of purityand abstraction, dispensing with vocals and pushing the distortion,feedback, and subharmonic drone into the red. I had hoped that Earth'sreunion might produce some new vital new music that could blow all ofthe current imitators out of the water, but so far all of theirreleases have been live recordings, reissues or remixes, none asremarkable as classic efforts like Earth 2 or Pentastar: In the Style of Demons.The first track on this disc is a 14-minute solo performance by Carlsonrecorded live on the air at WNYU, playing in his trademarkedslow-motion dirge style, allowing plenty of sludge to spray off eachdownbeat minor chord. Though the performance is certainly competentenough (at least by Earth standards), it lacks any sort of interest ordevelopment that would keep up interest for its entire length. Thisproblem is even more apparent with the hour-long behemoth title track,recorded live in NYC on the same day as the first track. Engagingdrumming by Davis keeps things afloat for longer than they might have,but Carlson's improvisations frequently derail and wander too longthrough repetitive chord progressions, or get too caught up inmasturbatory bouts of aimlessness. As is always there in Earthrecordings, those thick, vibratory, third-eye guitar drones make manywelcome appearances, but are never given enough free reign, and Dylan'stortured acrobatics become a distraction. When Carlson and Davis areon, they are really on, but the off moments are far more frequent thanthey should be. The recording itself also leaves a bit to be desired,sometimes resulting in a confused mix and weird audio dropouts. Sinceit seems that Earth are back now, if not for good than at least for alittle while, I wish they would consider recording a new studio album,as Living in the Gleam just isn't doing it for me. - Jonathan Dean
Troubleman Unlimited
Earth's sound was certainly determined inpart by the Seattle grunge scene of which they were peripherally apart, and also by the overcast, gloomy weather, epidemic heroinaddiction and economic disenfranchisement of their Olympia, Washingtonhome. Inspired, it seems, by Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi's musicalresponse to similar conditions, Earth not only adopted the originalname for Black Sabbath, they also copped the heavy, oppressive,resonant blues riffing, bringing it to an entirely new level of purityand abstraction, dispensing with vocals and pushing the distortion,feedback, and subharmonic drone into the red. I had hoped that Earth'sreunion might produce some new vital new music that could blow all ofthe current imitators out of the water, but so far all of theirreleases have been live recordings, reissues or remixes, none asremarkable as classic efforts like Earth 2 or Pentastar: In the Style of Demons.The first track on this disc is a 14-minute solo performance by Carlsonrecorded live on the air at WNYU, playing in his trademarkedslow-motion dirge style, allowing plenty of sludge to spray off eachdownbeat minor chord. Though the performance is certainly competentenough (at least by Earth standards), it lacks any sort of interest ordevelopment that would keep up interest for its entire length. Thisproblem is even more apparent with the hour-long behemoth title track,recorded live in NYC on the same day as the first track. Engagingdrumming by Davis keeps things afloat for longer than they might have,but Carlson's improvisations frequently derail and wander too longthrough repetitive chord progressions, or get too caught up inmasturbatory bouts of aimlessness. As is always there in Earthrecordings, those thick, vibratory, third-eye guitar drones make manywelcome appearances, but are never given enough free reign, and Dylan'stortured acrobatics become a distraction. When Carlson and Davis areon, they are really on, but the off moments are far more frequent thanthey should be. The recording itself also leaves a bit to be desired,sometimes resulting in a confused mix and weird audio dropouts. Sinceit seems that Earth are back now, if not for good than at least for alittle while, I wish they would consider recording a new studio album,as Living in the Gleam just isn't doing it for me. - Jonathan Dean
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