If you asked any stoner rock fans worth their salt “Do you like Earthless?” 99.9% of them would respond with “I fucking love Earthless”. What a band, both live and on record these guys have earned the status of stoner jam heavy weights and it’s more than thoroughly deserved. I still firmly claim to this day that their show at the London Borderline back in 2009 was the best gig I have ever attended. Then they went and did the cruellest thing in the world to us ever… not release a studio album for six years. Luckily they are good enough to keep us interested over this time and 2013’s cosmic offering From the Ages has been one of the most anticipated album of the year for people with taste.
You’ll be pleased to know that it is amazing, next level off the fucking planet scale amazing. First up we have ‘Violence of the Red Sea’ which weighs in around the 14 minute mark, pretty damn short for Earthless. We get a hint of a warm stoner jam kicking in before breaking down and Isaiah Mitchell gives us some soothing guitar wailing. It’s letting us in gently but before you know it there are spacey riffs coming at you from every direction and it's chaos. It has a rugged improvised feel due to the uncountable number sections and the lead guitar is exquisite… you simply don’t hear better and more soulful guitar playing than this.
Next up we have ‘Uluru Rock' also coming at around 14 minutes. The opening guitar part is reminiscent Pink Floyd’s 'Wish You Were Here'. After a slow build Pink Floyd goes out the window and we are smacked in the chops with more classy guitar work but this track has a more psychedelic and darker feel to it than the opening track. It’s an enticing slow burner with like pockets magic which keep you guessing and has something different to offer upon every listen. Of course, around the half way mark it speeds up cosmically and morphs into a vintage Earthless mind bending jam. Class!
‘Equus October’ has a wonderful chilled feel to it but is nothing more than a spacey intermission to ensure we are fully prepared for the final track and show stopper ‘From the Ages’. Earthless fans reading this will know exactly what to expect from this 30 minute onslaught. A timeless, thunderous jam which they will listen to and adore for the rest of your days. The drummer is like the psychedelic terminator, the beats just keep coming and coming and refuses to give in. The bass is hypnotic and keeps the blood and provides the perfect platform for the colossal riffs to do their worst and provide the listener a truly jaw dropping experience. This band are so together that something else must be at play, a magical force we can never understand and I’m not remotely exaggerating.
I’m not going to talk about whether this is their best or not because everything they have ever done has been immaculate and so there’s no point comparing. They’ve just gone and done it again and if you love music that jams then this record is absolutely essential. Mind blowing!
