Release
date: June 24th 2016. Label: Napalm Records. Released. Format:
CD/DD/Vinyl
Dead
Letters – Tracklisting
1.Reduced
to Ashes - 04:11
2.Hollowed
- 04:26
3.Valley
of Thorns - 03:42
4.Conjured
- 03:25
5.Monolith
- 04:04
6.In
Fire's Light - 04:13
7.In
the Arms of Medusa - 03:14
8.Castle
of Sorrow - 03:46
9.Safeguard
of Death - 04:38
10.Red
Leaves - 04:26
11.The
Edge of Time - 07:09
12.Blood
Candy - 03:08
13.The
Edge of Time - 04:11
Band
Members
Jan
Oberg - Guitars, Vocals
Sabine
Oberg - Bass
Florian
Häuser - Drums
Marcel
Schulz - Guitars
Review:
The
Berlin-based quartet Earth Ship come back with a new stunning album,
Hollowed, two years later after Withered, which it seems to be a
worthy successor. After three full length (Exit Eden 2011, Iron Chest
2012, Withered 2014) and one EP (...as if She Were a Black Bird
2013), the long association with Pelagic Records gives way to Napalm
Records.
The
band led by Jan Oberg (guitars/vocals and former drummer of The
Ocean) was able to fix and consolidate a monolithic sound that, over
the years, moves in the everglades of sludge metal, bringing flashes
of freshness in it. In Hollowed, Earth Ship are able to explore lands
that go beyond the simple definition of sludge metal going, in some
ways, in a different direction from the one set in the first albums
of the band.
In
this new release, the band hits the mark with their lysergic and
powerful mixture able to retrieve the sound of stoner-fathers Kylesa
and Crowbar, mixed with Deftones and Mastodon, more organically
throughout the whole album. A feeling that, in my opinion, is not
found in their previous releases, where the different influences do
not easily emerge, making the whole thing a little too flat. Mind
you, from a technical and instrumental point of view, Earth Ship have
a few seconds, with a precise and devastating rhythm section
sustaining heavy and powerful riffs and vocals able to switch between
a sludgy growl and melodic partitures. What has been missing in the
last years, and now shines in this work is, undoubtedly, a bit of
freshness compared to the past production, where the songwriting
appears to be more mature. As a fan, I knew that sooner or later it
would emerge.
Hollowed
opens with Reduces To Ashes, a track that goes steady in the use of
riffing and drumming while the choruses, which are flanked by the
poisonous growl of Jan, contribute to enrich the song. Hollowed, the
second track, goes in the same direction, with some passages remind
me Gojira. In this release, reverbs and distortions help to make less
obvious the sound of Earth Ship, where slow and recursive execution
typical of sludge metal fuses with furious assaults performed at high
speed, as in the first part of Valley Of Thorns or in Castle Of
Sorrow.
The
focus in Hollowed is kept alive by the ability of Earth Ship to
manage some interesting diversions that show the vast pool of several
different influences, which are not only near to the old Sabbath’
school as in Conjured, but also close to the more modern metal traits
of Mastodon and The Ocean, as in Valley of Thorns and Monolith. Such
influences, once again, move the compass of sludge to less boring and
repetitive sounds. The impression one gets from listening is that
Hollowed is not just an iteration of everything that Withered
was, but a starting point for a varied and dynamic blend of a new and
more laid-back sound of the band.
Hollowed
ends with, to my opinion, the most beautiful and evocative track of
the album, The Edge of Time, an epic, slow and monolithic song that,
in some passages, sounds like the perfect fusion between the
sludge/post metal of Neurosis and the dark beauty doom of Windhand. A
perfect song you would listen endlessly and that makes you regret the
end of the album.
It
is not easy to add originality in an genre that is recursive by
definition, based on elephantine heavy riffs and monolithic walls of
sound. In Hollowed, Earth Ship manage to cross the borders of sludge,
adding just enough to freshen every single track than past releases.
While not a revolution, Hollowed could represent a new point of view
for the Berlin based band. Do not dwell in a first partial listening.
Hollowed needs more of a listen. Let yourself be carried slowly from
the tracklist, listen intently every single note and soon you will
understand why, probably, we are facing the best album of Earth Ship.
Words
by Bruno Bellisario
Thanks
to Napalm Records for the promo. Hollowed is a available to buy now
on CD/DD/VInyl from Napalm Records.
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