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Earth > Earth 2 - Special Low Frequency Version > Reviews > Liontime
Earth - Earth 2 - Special Low Frequency Version

Scorching - 100%

Liontime, January 22nd, 2016

This record sounds like black heat waves radiating off of black pavement. Like sweltering heat. There's no other album quite like it. This was Earth's first album and it's usually pointed to as their best. If you're looking for a starting point this is it, but this album isn't for the faint of heart. It's long and dense. It's an hour and fifteen minute exercise in patience and meditation. This album will burn away all of your insides, leaving you purged of your prior self.

The album begins with a crawling doomy guitar riff. The bass plays droney distorted tones and is relatively loud in the mix. After about two minutes, the guitar riff gains a bit of speed, but it's still slow, heavy and contemplative. Waves of searing distorted feedback intensify as the first fifteen minutes trudge forward through a desolate desert.

The second track begins with a new guitar tone layered over the cascading feedback of the first track. The bass is full on drone by this time. The distorted soundscape continues for another twenty six minutes, periodically punctuated by barely noticeable riff cycle changes.

"Like Gold and Faceted" is the last track on the album. This is the only track to feature any sort of percussion. A cymbal crash marks the transition. The guitar and bass are full on wall of sound, no definition just immersion. Periodic cymbal crashes and drum hits are heard but they are faint at this point in time. After about seven minutes, the cymbal crashes are noticeably more prevalent. The guitar and bass will continue a dense, deep drone for the remainder of the album. The remaining twenty minutes scorch away as the cymbals very slowly intensify. As the song comes to a close, you will hear and feel the drone leave you.

I recommend waiting for the summer; then going for a long walk in the street under the sun. A strange prescription to give to metal heads, but I definitely don't believe all metal was meant to be listened to in snowy solitude. Some metal was meant to be listened to while getting sunburned.