To immediately give Dungeon Vision some approval, the album might have been heralded as a classic had it been released during heavy psych’s ‘70s heyday – at the very least, it would’ve fit in quite snuggly.
Earth Tongue’s third album places so much focus on everything it uses and everything it loves, yet it still sounds somewhat spontaneous. Its devotion to original riffs, which make use of semitone intervals and tritones, played to prop up themes on the occult and medievalism, earns it a sort of Black Sabbath tag. I know, I know, such a comparison will get me tarred and feathered – probably says more about those doing the tarring and feathering than it does me – but I’m always happy to give big compliments to wizard rock done well.
The difference, that puts classic rock afficionados off of bands from the indie world, is that Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons – the guitarist/singer and drummer that comprise the Wellington act – are not particularly prodigious. That doesn’t matter when you have enough good ideas, and then enough application to make those ideas work.
Larkin has a great voice, Satanic but not in a gimmicky, hammed-up sense, which she uses to apply evil melodies with disconnect in their harmonies. These melodies are introduced on the title track, whilst also prolific on Silver Eye, which utilises chromatic scales that, when combined with garage psych, remind me of early Pink Floyd. With proud falsetto and vibrato, she stunningly sings “the breeze, the breeze, it breathes for me” on the chorus of Body of Water, which warps amid the song’s otherwise reflective walk around the garden, and then “SHE GOES, SHE GOES, SHE GO-OH-OHS” on Harvester.
Her vocals are mesmerically engaging when sung with a constancy. There is a ‘marching to hell’ feel to Living Hell, illustrative as a man drawing a picture, picking up the pace on the chorus, as if Hell is near, which combines beautifully with the subtle dramatics of Larkin’s guitar. She revisits that constancy on Ritual, which is backlit by Simons’ uncertain rhythms, one moment bouncy, the next rattling out backbeat fills.
Ty Segall co-produced the album with the duo, and you can tell. Fuzz is in charge, though you may not consider it typical fuzz, alleviating expectations despite the insistency on this tone throughout the album doing no such thing. Still, it’s one of Ty’s best recent gifts, helping to carve an album that feels like minimalised doom metal, and there is some variety; the fluttering fuzz tone on Orbit of a Witch’s solo; Symmetry Dripper’s experimental use of synthesiser, played by some bloke named Herman.
It’s hard to have a problem with a default setting when that default setting is encompassed by Watchtower’s riff, which deviates as it plays, which is replicated by the vocals on the chorus, and in its final occurrence, the album’s most headbanging moment is unlocked.
Variety is nice, but there’s nothing tedious about the regularity of Earth Tongue’s storybook psych. This style invites lyrics that aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like castles and black magic, you won’t find these lyrics so ridiculous. They’re written in slogans and story narrations that would be too impersonal if written in an actual story, perhaps better suited as overview theme songs for roleplay games – “THERE’S A DRAGON CHASING YOU! EQUIP YOUR SWORD AND ARMOUR!”. Those aren’t real lyrics.
The duo can write a captivating lyric – Flashlight’s “started as a drip now the castle has a moat” is excellent, and if ever they’re lacking, the staggering manner in which their lyrics are sung will be enough to blow you away. And blow you away they will. They’ve made a cracking modern heavy psych album without going too King Gizzard-y about it.
Best tracks – Flashlight – Body of Water – Watchtower – Living Hell.
Rating – 8 out of 10
