Release Date: August 02nd 2024. Record Label: The Lasting Dose Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
SOAR: Tracklisting
1.Shallow
2.Soar
3.Ghost Town
4.Radiant
5.Ethereal Limbo
6.Acrid Haze
7.Bereft
8.Daze And Delights
Members
Sabine Oberg – Bass
André Klein – Drums
Jan Oberg – Guitars, Vocals
Review
One of Germany’s finest Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal acts Earth Ship return after a six year absence with Soar which sees the band have their closest out-of-body experience with COSMIC DOOM passages within their highly accomplished career. Jan and Sabine have kept themselves busy within that six year time frame by releasing highly acclaimed albums with their other bands Psychedelic Doomsters GRIN and Psychedelic Sludge/Stoner Rockers SLOWSHINE.
André Klein from SLOWSHINE provides Drums on SOAR and he fits right at home with some epic sounding drum beats throughout the album. Earth Ship may have slightly traded for a more Psychedelic sound compared to their previous albums but this record is still full of majestic Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves which is powered through with steely eyed DOOM METAL determination through Jan’s intense harsh vocals and subtle guitar rhythms.
The opening two tracks of Shallow and Soar set the scene for catchy bursts of aggressive metallic and thuggish instrumental sounds which captures the imagination throughout. There’s some nods to acts such as Mastodon, Baroness and The Ocean but also to the classic sounds of EARTH SHIP down the ages which feels galvanized by familiar Psychedelic and Doomedelic techniques that Jan and Sabine have used to perfection under their GRIN creative persona.
The sludgy guitars overlap with the Psychedelic textures with a classic style of down-tuned METALLIC based Rock/Metal coming from Sabine’s intense bass guitar especially on the excellent third track Ghost Town. The harsh vocals adds a ferocious intensity to the record with a slow-to-mid pace style of FUZZY guitars that feels like an “intense punch to the gut” when the heavy COSMIC themes appear with a slight area of distortion keeping the atmosphere grounded and very real throughout.
Earth Ship blends Post-Rock atmospherics into the mix on the later stages of Ghost Town which dives right into the opening dynamics of the haunting fourth track Radiant. This track feels like this track could have come from the last GRIN and SLOWSHINE records with its lush sounding Post-Stoner grooves and blissful Psychedelic and Doomgaze attitude.
The band adopt that Doomgaze creative energy with the second half of the album with Ethereal Limbo allowing Earth Ship fuse that harsh Sludge/Stoner Metal style with exquisite Psychedelic Instrumental Passages and trippy dreamlike vocals that even allows Jan’s angry vocals ample opportunity to shine and dictate the action.
The final three tracks of Acrid Haze, Bereft and Daze And Delights allows Earth Ship to play music that harks back to their roots with that grizzled METALLIC and bombastic Heavy Metal style they first made their names with. The music is constantly evolving into different levels of Sludge/Stoner Metal that can be quite threatening and deafening when the time calls for it.
SOAR is the perfect comeback album for EARTH SHIP to come back to the Sludge/Stoner Metal masses with. This is easily their best album in years and with first rate production values which is once again handled by Jan himself at his famed HIDDEN PLANET STUDIO in Berlin.
Welcome back EARTH SHIP, you’ve been missed. Be prepared for an album that’s jam packed of outstanding grooves and breathtaking music that will have a timeless quality to them.
Just like GRIN’s new album HUSH, SOAR is a definitive Album Of The Year contender.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to The Lasting Dose Records and CZ Promotions for the promo.
Links
Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram