3) Earthless: Live At The Roadburn Festival
2008, Tee Pee Records
If anyone from Teepee records ever reads this (secretly hoping it happens), how do you do it? How do you manage to be so endlessly right about the bands you sign? Sampler: Nebula, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Ancestors, Sleep, Karma To Burn, High On Fire, Imaad Wasif, Titan, Weird Owl, Witch, Sweet Apple, Hopewel... They've been doing a nice job.
The one of interest here is Earthless. They probably listened to Agitation Free's At The Cliffs Of The River Rhine a bunch of times (or they should) because they share a few things: the abscence of vocals (although their cover of the Groundhog's "Cherry Red" proves that if they needed vocals, they could deliver them) and a fondness for epic sonic paintings. Where Earthless separates from the path drawn by their European musical forefathers is however quite obvious. Indeed, Earthless is a power trio of the best possible faction, where Agitation Free involved 5 members, including a couple of guitarists.
Therefore, it all falls on extremely inspired guitarist Isaiah Mitchell's shoulders to provide Earthless with the otherwordly sounds their band name calls for. The rhythm section will perfectly lock in on every tasty groove they find, with Mitchell first doubling the bass lines, then shooting off in inspired guitaristic tangents that are reminiscent not only of the overcopied Hendrix, Iommi and other Gilmours, but also of Manuel Göttsching's work in Ash Ra Tempel, Louis Dambra from Sir Lord Baltimore, or Ax Genrich (Guru Guru). His prolific use of delay combined with, let's admit it, glorious vacuum tube distortion, should also make the day of anyone with some taste for interesting guitar tones.
The hour and thirty-one minutes of music on this double LP (each of which is one song) is, according to drummer Mario Rubalcaba, a "Heavy, Loud, Sonic mind melt". Which could let a few wonder if these three basement incense burners know where they're going.
They don't.
...but if you were lost somewhere in between the Biir nebula and the Vyydbürnar constellation, would you have any idea where you want to go...?
JNCT
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