What do we have here? A new Earth Ship record. The first one after six years of silence, the first one to follow six previous releases, six releases which established the band as an outfit to be taken seriously. Why the prolonged silence? Who knows. It’s certainly not because partners in crime and music, Sabine and Jan Oberg, would waste time sitting around being idle. Well, they might be doing that as well, every now and then. But in general, they appear quite busy. Apart from Earth Ship they play together in two other bands, GRIN and Slowshine. Jan Oberg, in addition, has his own studio, Hidden Planet, in Berlin, Germany, where he has been recording music with a steady number of other bands for almost two decades now. And there is also a label he owns and runs, The Lasting Dose Records. Maybe they just didn’t manage to produce a new Earth Ship album earlier, didn’t feel like doing it, were focused on other projects, or maybe the time just wasn’t right. Whatever the reason, the wait was worth it, for Soar flies high and hits like a bomb. A nail bomb to be precise, the ingredients for which are nicely depicted on the album cover. But that might also be my explosive mood imagining things. Got a light, anyone?
Soar is first and foremost a riff fest and will delight all the fans of heavy music out there who appreciate inventive guitar and bass lines. The album’s eight songs, summing up to a very healthy length of 40 minutes, will draw you in with their old-school vibe and their meticulously woven net of sounds and rhythms. As on previous Earth Ship releases, sludge, doom and stoner ring through, but so does psychedelia. While there are a quite a few instrumental passages that allow you to immerse yourself wholly in the sound, the majority of the new album’s tracks features Jan Oberg’s vocals which, with their earthy, guttural hoarseness, have a very grounding effect, and, amidst all the trance, provide a bit of reality, a bit of menace. I like that. Because you’ve got to stay real. You’ve got to stay tethered to the ground.
Compared to the band’s previous albums two things become apparent: The fact that the Obergs have regularly been exchanging the drummers for the band’s recordings makes for good sound hygiene and guarantees that no album sounds exactly like the previous one. The current man behind the kit, André Klein, plays decidedly slower than his predecessor which makes the new material sound a bit meaner, a bit gutsier and provides more space for the riffs to shine. While the Earth Ship sound essentials have not change, the new record still has a fresh ring to it.
From the exquisite first tunes of album opener Shallow to the Hendrix nostalgia of closer Daze and Delights, Soar will provide you with a listening fest for many run throughs. What I like best about the record is that it has many memorable passages without ever being annoyingly catchy. Because creating catchy songs is easier than you might think. AI can probably already do it better than we can. But creating soundscapes that are complex while still being appealing and listenable is a completely different matter.
Nothing left to say but go get Soar for you next musical high.
(8/10 Slavica)
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