Full Upon Her Burning Lips - Earth: Review
Earth
is a legendary west coast drone metal band who helped pioneer the genre in the early 90's. They dropped the now legendary album Earth 2 in 1993 that is considered by many to be one of the best and earliest examples of drone music. Since then the band has dropped a myriad of different project dabbling in various experimental rock genres but have never found quite the same level of success or innovation. Despite this the band continues to be revered for their contributions to drone's evolution.
Review By Lavender:
I would be the first person to tell you that Earth 2 is absolutely essential Drone listening. Not only did it finally re-contextualize Lou Reed's pioneering Metal Machine Music but it also kick-started the entire drone and harsh ambient movement that is so prevalent in independent music to this day. Since then they have released a lot of material and while much of it has great highlights and is worth diving into they haven't really had another truly great project save for 2009's The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull. Given that there is always something worthwhile in almost every Earth release I had some expectations for this project but they were tempered. Now that it's arrived I can comfortably say it falls right in line with much of their material as there is nothing groundbreaking here but it does have some moments worth engaging with.
First off I should make it clear that this isn't really a true drone album, while the guitars and distortion are still the main focus there really aren't walls of sound on any of these songs and the mix very clearly allows you to hear every little change in tonality. This was a shift that I saw coming following the albums three singles. Cats On The Briar was the lead single and not one that inspired confidence in me. The song is just a touch under five minutes and features a riff far catchier than anything I expected to hear on an Earth album, unfortunately the band kind of uses that as an excuse to not develop the song at all and it spends a nearly stagnant six minutes beating it beyond death until I just want to move on to the next track.
The next song The Colour Of The Poison did even more to diminish my excitement. The song starts off great with a very dramatic and impassioned performance that sounds closer to drone than much of what is here, unfortunately at about one minute in the track breaks into this really ugly and uninspired dad metal refrain that is played in a really ugly way and features some terrible shrill moments that don't support the song at all. This track confuses me a lot as an inclusion on the album but the decision to release it as a single seems absurd. The third single is by far the most tolerable and my favorite of the three. The Mandrake's Hymn is a touch underwritten by drone standards but the track doesn't overstay its welcome and is the only single that truly fits its five minutes and is also a unique sounding song on the album.
Thankfully most, but not all of the albums lulls come from the singles. She Rides An Air Of Malevolence and it's short follow-up song Maiden's Catafalque both suffer from a very ugly foundation that feels weirdly low mixed and the progression that occurs as a result is pretty underwhelming, which is unfortunate given how long the former is.
Finally the closing track A Wretched Country Of Dusk is somewhat of a meager outro. The start of the song features a less than stellar mix that builds up a little slow for my taste but the song picks up speed with some booming percussion that helps make its second half feel climactic and ultimately a decent ending for the project.
Review By Lavender:
I would be the first person to tell you that Earth 2 is absolutely essential Drone listening. Not only did it finally re-contextualize Lou Reed's pioneering Metal Machine Music but it also kick-started the entire drone and harsh ambient movement that is so prevalent in independent music to this day. Since then they have released a lot of material and while much of it has great highlights and is worth diving into they haven't really had another truly great project save for 2009's The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull. Given that there is always something worthwhile in almost every Earth release I had some expectations for this project but they were tempered. Now that it's arrived I can comfortably say it falls right in line with much of their material as there is nothing groundbreaking here but it does have some moments worth engaging with.
First off I should make it clear that this isn't really a true drone album, while the guitars and distortion are still the main focus there really aren't walls of sound on any of these songs and the mix very clearly allows you to hear every little change in tonality. This was a shift that I saw coming following the albums three singles. Cats On The Briar was the lead single and not one that inspired confidence in me. The song is just a touch under five minutes and features a riff far catchier than anything I expected to hear on an Earth album, unfortunately the band kind of uses that as an excuse to not develop the song at all and it spends a nearly stagnant six minutes beating it beyond death until I just want to move on to the next track.
The next song The Colour Of The Poison did even more to diminish my excitement. The song starts off great with a very dramatic and impassioned performance that sounds closer to drone than much of what is here, unfortunately at about one minute in the track breaks into this really ugly and uninspired dad metal refrain that is played in a really ugly way and features some terrible shrill moments that don't support the song at all. This track confuses me a lot as an inclusion on the album but the decision to release it as a single seems absurd. The third single is by far the most tolerable and my favorite of the three. The Mandrake's Hymn is a touch underwritten by drone standards but the track doesn't overstay its welcome and is the only single that truly fits its five minutes and is also a unique sounding song on the album.
Thankfully most, but not all of the albums lulls come from the singles. She Rides An Air Of Malevolence and it's short follow-up song Maiden's Catafalque both suffer from a very ugly foundation that feels weirdly low mixed and the progression that occurs as a result is pretty underwhelming, which is unfortunate given how long the former is.
Finally the closing track A Wretched Country Of Dusk is somewhat of a meager outro. The start of the song features a less than stellar mix that builds up a little slow for my taste but the song picks up speed with some booming percussion that helps make its second half feel climactic and ultimately a decent ending for the project.
As for the handful of tracks I haven't talked about yet, they are pretty stellar. The opening track Datura's Crimson Veils is a huge and epic tune. At just under 12 minutes the progression takes its time but it's well worth it. The songs pattern of falling back into its initial refrain before exploding even more dramatically each new sequence is quite the intoxicating one and sets a great tone for the album right from the start.
On the other end of the scale one of the shortest tracks here Exaltation Of Larks is also a good one. There is some very muffled percussion that is front and center in the mix but it just helps set up the overpoweringly heavy guitars to kick in and as the song progresses the chords get longer and longer for a song I was surprised to enjoy as much as I did. Descending Belladonna is another one of my favorites that starts off with a heavy riff that fades out as the songs progression gets longer and more abstract. As far as experimental rock goes it isn't really anything new but the song thrills within the tracklist of this album and the rises and falls of its second half are some of the best compositional moments here.
Finally An Unnatural Carousel opens up with some of the most intricate and interesting guitar work on the whole album. The progression takes a very different route than I anticipated and I'm pleasantly surprised with how quiet they are able to make the track without losing much of its grit. It's a bright spot in the second half that's one of the most patient tracks here as well as one of the most rewarding.
Ultimately Full Upon Her Burning Lips is by no means essential to Earth as a band or to experimental rock in 2019 but it certainly has its moments and given the groups pedigree I will continue anticipating whatever they have in store next. 5.5/10
Best Track: Datura's Crimson Veils
For more Drone check out my review of Sunn 0)))'s Life Metal here.
