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- Bands:
EARTHTONE9 - Duration: 00:39:58
- Available from: 06/21/2024
- Label:
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Candlelight
Time for returns, and here are the English Earthtone9 with their fifth album of unreleased songs, eleven years after the previous “IV” and more than twenty-five years after their debut “Lo-Def(inition) Discord”.
A troubled history that of the Nottingham group, which went from videos in rotation on MTV to long artistic hiatus, as the limited record production spread over three decades can suggest. At a certain point, Earthtone9 had to look for a dimension that would allow the group to survive, and this was found in more extended artistic times and the affection of a hard core of supporters, who however do not fully do justice to the group’s potential , perhaps never fully expressed.
Having failed, after their third, iconic work “Arc’tan’gent”, to settle with a major label and attack the North American market, they officially disbanded in 2002, announcing the farewell tour and the release of the EP “Omega” ; but the attachment and devotion of the fans brings them back to life in 2010 and then again in this 2024; but don’t call it a reunion, these are simply the normal timing of Earthtone9 for fifteen years now.
It’s really exciting to hear Karl Middleton again extricate himself between clean singing and hardcore screams, always with his usual grit and effectiveness; a ringing voice, a characteristic that has no equal in metal; exactly like the music of the English group itself, always straddling alternative metal, post-harcore and post metal, with progressive, noise and nu accents; cross and delight of their artistic journey, acclaimed by certain critics but decidedly less so by the public.
Sons of Neurosis and Helmet, and with a growing interest in the intricate and lysergic textures of Tool, they have always favored a very personal approach to heavy music, remaining uncatalogable, while building a coherent and distinctive sound. Not labelable but very recognisable, this is still the strength of Earthtone9 today, the group that twenty years ago was remembered above all for the unpredictability of the musical proposal and for the song titles peppered with strange terms in brackets.
Wanting to find references in today’s international panorama, we have to bother with the contemporaries Mastodon, certainly very different because they are in turn extremely personal, but who share the sludge and post-hardcore origins with Earthtone9, as well as a certain way of constructing the songs, characterized by ‘alternation of clean and extreme voices, with powerful and refined textures, with riffing contaminated by the most disparate influences, but of clear post hardcore derivation; that of the English is more oriented towards alternative metal, that of the Americans is more towards classic hard rock.
On this new “In Resonance Nexus” we find the engaging tone of many of their compositions: the album itself does not differ much from the previous “IV”,
but there seems to be more conviction in wanting to re-propose the more psychedelic and experimental moments of “Arc’tan’gent”, of which we find the same structure, with the less direct and faster pieces placed in the same positions in the set list: the third with oriental-like flashes ” Under The Snake” and the fifth, wonderful, “Black Sun Roulette”, both based on acoustic and electric alternation, and the last two, the cosmic and dreamy “Thrid Mutuality”, and “Strenght Is My Weakness”, the sluttiest of the lot, where heaviness and melody combine perfectly.
More of a simple citation of the ancient masterpiece, a wink to the most passionate supporters, than a true revival of those classics; because the new pieces are still very different, but Earthtone9’s desire to look ahead and get straight to the point, without getting lost in progressive paths already tested and difficult to repeat at those quality levels, is absolutely understandable and acceptable.
Today’s Earthtone9 are more concrete, more compact over the length of the album and more metal, one might say, and prefer the concise, explosive and apocalyptic episodes also typical of their past production, at least as regards the last two albums; while the comparison with the first two albums “Lo-Def(inition) Discord” and “Off Kilter Enhancement” is more difficult, with a decidedly rougher and more underground sound.
Among the most bone-breaking pieces stand out the opener “The Polyphony Of Animals”, the fourth “Ocean Drift”, first single and promotional video; and the seventh “Etiquette Of Distortion”, where Earthtone9 stray into death metal and Karl Middleton also has the opportunity to try his hand at growling. Fundamental in these moments is the contribution of Jason Bowld of Bullet For My Valentine on drums, more square and faster, even if less charismatic than the historic Simon Hutchby.
Candlelight Records and Lewis Jones behind the console ensure the necessary professionalism and a refined and contemporary sound, although Andy Sneap’s work on “Arc’tan’gent” remains unattainable to this day. But there is no nostalgia here, Earthtone9 still sound current despite the passing of time, they refuse extreme self-quotation and propose, with today’s experience and still great impetus, the strong pieces of their repertoire, trying to satisfy the appetites of the old guard and amaze the new recruits, who can find, in these Nottingham veterans, something for their young teeth.
An album capable of being devastating and catchy at the same time; rare commodity that only unique musicians like Earthtone9 can create.
