Earth: Hex; or printing in the infernal method (2005)

Hex; or printing in the infernal method is dronesy slowcore doom/stoner metal (or whatever one likes to call it) at its best! Slow, heavy, cinematic, awesome shit. I wish I find more stuff like this (and yes, I'm familiar with Sunn 0))), but this record by Earth is perhaps slightly more melodic than the Sunn 0))) efforts). I really hate it when reviewers of metal records praise bands for doing heavy music but in this case I am actually inclined to spurt out a celebratory speech about the heaviness of Hex. Sometimes I am surprised about the reactions music elicits in me but I guess that is what makes it interesting to keep listening to new kinds of music.

I presume my neighbors love this album, too (they better be), especially played loud at 01:00 in the morning. And damn! I like that cover. It's a weeny bit cheesy but it captures something of what this music is like. ( - A hillbilly zombie is probably peeking out from the window of that house) The combination of heavy-as-hell guitars, doom-ridden percussion and - if my ears do not deceive me - twangy steel guitar is simply perfect ("The dire and ever circling wolves" and "Tethered to the Polestar"). Or listen to that acoustic guitar that provides one more dimension of brick-heaviness on "Raiford (The Felon wind)". Rootsey goodness all the way. It might sound like an impossible concept, but this, to my ears, is doom/drone metal played country style. And why would that be impossible? Doom & gloom looms heavily over the best of country music (the brand of southern gothic stuff that I am so fond of). If The Handsome family (check them out, too! They put out a new album recently.) were an instrumental metal band, this would be the kind of record they would be making.

In short, digging from my very limited knowledge in this area, this is an album with a pretty unique sound. And with that, I am not saying that it is the concept that makes it great. Earth is a renowned band that has existed for a long time and they have made quite a few albums but regrettably I am a stupid person who hasn't heard their music until recently. Now, I intend to take a deeper look into what Southern lord records has to offer (Om is next on my list of interesting names on that label).

Excuse me, but now I have to go milk the cows (or feed the crows).