After almost 5 years since the epic “From The Ages” came out in 2013, psych rockers Earthless are back with a new album “Black Heaven” which upon first listen is going to ruffle a few feathers among hardcore fans. But rest assured, this is still Earthless and the band have lost none of their touch, this time focusing more on melody and structure.
“Black Heaven” will probably be considered their most daring and challenging effort yet despite the more conventional song structures involved on most of the tracks. The biggest difference however will be the addition of vocals which guitarist Isaiah Mitchell takes the full reign on but it should be noted that this isn’t exactly new territory for Earthless. The band have dabbled with vocal parts on previous albums, most notably on “Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky” but with that being said, I consider that album my least favorite of the back catalogue but to be fair, it wasn’t entirely because of the vocals. Which brings me to that topic, the vocals really do work seamlessly here. They aren’t afterthoughts or something that was slapped on for the sake of it. Isaiah’s voice adds to the music and at the same time, brings some form of point of references to the songs where on their more instrumental pieces, can seem like a lengthy trip down no man’s land. It’s that lack of structure that has made Earthless’ music so damn interesting but on “Black Heaven” there’s a beauty in it’s more concise and focused songs that make it just as much fun to listen to, just in a different way.
Breaking the album down track by track, the first couple of tracks is definitely sitting in a more conventional format. Averaging the popular 5 to 6 minute marks, “Gifted By The Wind” has a groovy funk beat that’s straight down the line and “End To End” with it’s eerie guitar noise intro, groaning and wailing along before a 60’s inspired rockathon kicks in, it’s a more uptempo affair with a blistering guitar solo that caps it off. It only gets better from here.
The longest track on here is “Electric Flame” and it’s a doozy with a much more jammy feel than the opening numbers. It’s almost vintage stuff really despite the vocal tracks as the song is very much a guitar oriented affair which extends out to just under a sizable 9 minutes. Standard stuff for Earthless in that respect but certainly not an average song by all means.
To contrast that, the shortest track follows with “Volt Rush” keeping things under a couple of minutes but it’s one hell of a track that puts this as the highlight of the album. It captures everything that Earthless is with an intense guitar solo layered over the top, all of that put together really feels like something squeezed into a bottle ready to crack wide open. Certainly for any Earthless fan, all wishes are granted on this one.
The title track continues things along and brings back the instrumental element that Earthless are known for. Another piece sitting at under 9 minutes, it’s a tour de force of cracking guitar riffs that focus on groove more than anything else but still peppered with enough wails from Mitchell’s vintage guitar sound to appease the stringed instrument freak. There’s also definitely more atmosphere to this one with a more psychedelic sound and for those reasons alone, this could be the favorite among the fans for sure.
The album ends with a lighter track, “Sudden End“, a somewhat sombre number that is only accentuated even further with a more monotone vocal performance. By far the most different track on here but in some ways, a fitting end to what ultimately is another stellar album from Earthless. Despite the band going for a different thing on “Black Heaven“, this is still Earthless without a doubt and while it may not have that epic feel that “From The Ages” has, this album has it’s own identity and will go down brilliantly in a live setting.
TRACKLIST
Gifted By The Wind
End To End
Electric Flame
Volt Rush
Black Heaven
Sudden End
