Earth – The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull[Southern Lord; 26/02/2008]
It's hard to transform your feelings into words when encountering drone/experimental music. As one of the pioneers of the genre, Earth continue their journey in stripping down singularly notes and altering as much out of them as humanly possible on their sixth long player, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull.
On a personal note when it comes to listening to drone, Earth have always stood out. Barely shifting out of their comfort zone, they still manage to improvise with little margin for error within their music, yet still maintain maximum results.
'Rise to Glory' and 'Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)' are numbers that hit down the low end but keep the listener intrigued with the guitar twangs of frontman Dylan Carlson instilling a psychedelic aesthetic. 'Engine of Ruin' is more of a confined heat generating affair that moves towards more of a stoner jam frenzy that edges around guest guitarist Bill Frisell's chunky riff. 'Omens And Portents II_ Carrion Crow' also features Frisell and his sleepy riffs leading the line, this time, for more of a doom waltz, while 'Hung For the Moon' sees the band moving into more of a post-rock frame of sorts with higher pitches of piano replacing showers of low tuning bass.
The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is yet another string the bow for Earth. Although maybe not as dissonant as previous releases, you may find yourself listening to Earth before going to bed rather than using the band's music as a wake up mechanism, which - at the end of the day - is a progression of sorts.
By Simon K
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