<span><span>- In discussing the new Earth album, the band’s leader <strong>Dylan Carlson</strong> has said the record deviates from any form of lushness or effect-heavy reverb. Instead, the seminal drone doom act concentrate on a more straightforward live-sounding record, which also happens to be their first studio album in nearly five years. </span></span>
<span><span>Entitled <em>Full Upon Her Burning Lips</em>, there are no guest vocalists to be found, unlike the album’s lusher predecessor <em>Primitive And Deadly</em>. Instead, Carlson and drummer <strong>Adrienne Davies</strong> stick to a basic, vocal-free guitar/drums approach that intrigues and frustrates. </span></span>
<span><span>Everything here is extremely dry and no-frills, just Carlson’s guitar and Davies’ drums unfolding at their trademark glacial pace. Without the layers of thick distortion, the music resembles a kind of parched psychedelia, while the slow, repetitive melodies can almost put the listener into a trance-like state.</span></span>
<span><span>The lack of sonic diversity does make this record a bit of a struggle at times. When tracks like <em>Datura’s Crimson Veils</em> and <em>She Rides An Air Of Malevolence</em> cruise past eleven minute run-times without a great deal of change in dynamics, the result can be a little gruelling. </span></span>
<span><span>However, it is also a record that will reward repeated spins as subtle hooks and changes gradually unravel for the listener. One of the more immediate tracks is <em>Cats On The Briar</em>, with its memorable guitar motif. There are also moments where the music lifts out of the crawl-paced psychedelic haze and throws in a different flavour. For instance, <em>The Mandrake’s Hymn</em> opens with chiming tinkles of percussion, before the main riff kicks in, backed up by a slowly grooving bass guitar. There’s also something more floaty and expressionistic in the textures of the short, sweet <em>Maiden’s Catafalque</em>. </span></span>
<span><span>In a weird kind of way, this is the band’s sparsest record instrument-wise since their classic <em>Earth 2</em> debut, though with a completely different approach. While the near-orchestral slabs of distortion on their debut basically set the stage for noise soundscapists such as <strong>Sunn O)))</strong>, the new album would be more suited to a peyote experience in the desert, as the bone-dry blend of guitar and drums plays musical shaman. </span></span>
<span><span>And while this reviewer baulked somewhat at the record’s particularly basic sonic approach, it’s still well worth investigating, particularly for those who are already fans. Much of what we love Earth for is here, such as the slowed-down riffs and the hypnotic atmosphere. You’ll just need to pack lots of water for this particular journey. </span></span>
<span><span>- Matt Thrower.</span></span>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2729236552/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://earth.bandcamp.com/album/full-upon-her-burning-lips">Full Upon Her Burning Lips by Earth</a></iframe><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/suVxSq0YCOY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>