REVIEWED: Earth's 'Full Upon Her Burning Lips'

Yeah yeah, we know, this has already been out a while. But due to the heatwave in the UK, most of Dark Matter's writers have subsumed into some gloopy black-clad mass. But if there's anything worth lingering over, it's a new record by Earth. Yes indeedy, the doom drone pioneers are back, and even more languid in their amplifier than before.

“What?!” we hear you cry, as you spit out a refreshing cider and black into the hot night air. To the outside observer, Dylan Carlson and co have a made a career of playing so laid back that they're virtually horizontal, and on this front 'Full Upon Her Burning Lips' does not shirk. 'Datura's Crimson Veils' uncoils from the speakers like the blue smoke of a fine cigar. But aside from this 12 minute epic and its similarly long-playing counterpart 'She Rides An Air Of Malevolence' which explore the similar call and response dynamics across the desert plain, they give themselves more tracks to explore more sonic territory: 'Descending Belladonna' is a like Led Zeppelin stripped right down to harmonics and a sustain that hangs forever in the heat. It's a festival of amplifier love, and the simple divine pleasure we can get from the sound of a cranked up guitar chord hanging portentously.

In Earth terms, this is a back to basics approach: previous album 'Primitive And Deadly' was a snarling rock beast, while the pair albums 'Angels Of Dark, Demons of Light' has a mournful air. Sans cellos, vocals and distortion, we're back to the ever watchful and wise Earth, stripped of mass but still carrying just as much weight. An album to be treasured, as all Earth albums, for times are too contemplative for angst.

4.1/5

'Full Upon Her Burning Lips' is out now via Sargent House