From the Ages

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From the Ages
Studio album by
Earthless
ReleasedOctober 8, 2013
GenreInstrumental rock, psychedelic rock
Length1:05:31
LabelTee Pee Records
ProducerPhil Manley
Earthless chronology
Live at Roadburn
(2008) 		From the Ages
(2013)

From the Ages is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Earthless. It was released on October 8, 2013 by Tee Pee Records. It had been six years since the band’s last full-length studio album, Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky, as all three members of Earthless were pre-occupied with other matters, including other bands.

The album comprises four songs, all instrumental, and was recorded in two days. Much of the album’s material had existed in the band’s live repertoire before – in particular the album's title track had been released in an early form on the band's 2008

live album Live at Roadburn
– and the rest of it was created during the recording sessions and rehearsals. Despite the band's preference for analog tape, the title track had to be recorded digitally to accommodate its length.

The album was released to mostly positive critical reaction, with criticisms usually directed at the length of the material (and of the title track in particular) amid praises for its composition and depth. A number of publications cited the album as one of the best 2013 releases on year-end lists. Earthless earned two nominations at the San Diego Music Awards, and From the Ages became the band’s second album to win the Best Hard Rock Album award there.

Background and recording

Earthless' last studio album,

Howlin' Rain.[2] Mitchell also moved to northern California, which reduced the available time to rehearse with Earthless (who are based in San Diego).[3] After three rehearsals, the band recorded the album in two days, recording much of it live the first day and additional details the following day, in San Francisco with producer Phil Manley in his studio, Lucky Cat Recording.[3]

Song information

The songs on the album began as "very loose, general ideas" according to Rubalcaba, who also said "Violence of the Red Sea" was the most organized, structured song on the album[4] (although he later said the same of the title track).[5] Eginton wrote the bass lines for "Violence of the Red Sea",[4] inspired by funk and "prog-psych" bands from the UK and Europe.[5] The song, which had been included in the band's concert setlist for the last few years prior to recording,[3] was named after the combination of riffs and tempos which "collid[ed] together like an angry sea". The song's finale was present in the band's repertoire for almost a decade and was used to close the song for the tension it created, whereas the opening of the song was considered more of a "laid back groove".[5] After Rubalcaba and Eginton had outlined the song's bass guitar and drum parts in Mitchell's absence (due to now living elsewhere),[3] Mitchell was allowed to improvise lead guitar over them when he was able to play with the duo.[3][5]

"Uluru Rock" was named after the Uluru rock formation in Australia, as an homage to the country, and was written by Mitchell and Eginton through improvisations while they waited for Rubalcaba to get on stage to begin the band's first show in the country[5] At the time the band had not been to the landmark.[2] As a tribute to the natives, the song was specifically named Uluru as opposed to Ayers Rock, the landmark's other official name. "Uluru Rock" became the opening song on the band's setlist for all shows thereafter.[5]

"Equus October" was born out of a song that the band were considering discarding because they were never able to finish it[6] until they entered the studio and changed their minds, wanting more material on the album.[3][6] They decided to use a riff from it only as an interlude that ran 30 seconds long, but they came up with more ideas about what to do with it during the mixing process, eventually increasing the length of the song.[3] Rubalcaba explained that the bass guitar line remained a constant fixture on jam sessions between himself and Eginton, and they decided to give it a chance by recording it at the album's sessions. Once Mitchell also began adding material to the song, Rubalcaba felt it started taking on a "strong & majestic yet mournful" sensation, almost as if it were about a ritualistic sacrifice. He later discovered the ritual of the October Horse and based the song's title on that of the ritual. "It took on the feeling I had about the jam & how it just completely comes crashing down so abruptly at the end," he explained.[5] Expanding the song in the studio led the group to want to use it as an interlude that leads into the album's title track.[6]

"From the Ages" was recorded for the band's live album

Live at Roadburn five years before[7] and, being very long, was described by Rubalcaba as "a bastard to play [and relearn]". The band wanted to record it in as few takes as possible in spite of its length,[4] which they addressed by recording the song in Pro Tools as they expected it could be up to forty minutes long;[1] in the past they used analog tape which only allowed for about twenty minutes of music[3] but, according to Rubalcaba, yielded the best recording quality. Earthless rehearsed "From the Ages" for three days before recording it in about three takes.[1] In the last five minutes of the song, the band very gently ease into the end, to avoid having to end the song abruptly.[3] Although he had said the same of "Violence of the Red Sea" with respect to the album itself in a previous interview,[4] Rubalcaba later described "From the Ages" as the most organized, planned song the band had yet ever recorded, let alone recorded for this album. He described the mixture of influences in the song as "A supreme psycho-delic buffet served up with all the sour Kraut, all the freshest sushi Japan has to offer & what not". Rubalcaba reiterated the "pre-historic, caveman, dry & mysterious wasteland feel" that inspired the title.[5][6] The song expanded constantly during rehearsals[5] and evolved after its debut on Live at Roadburn.[1]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
About.com
4/5[14]
Rolling StoneFavorable[15]
MagnetFavorable[16]
The Austin Chronicle[17]

From the Ages was released on October 8, 2013, by Tee Pee Records.[18] The artwork was created by artist Alan Forbes, whose work Rubalcaba commended as "captur[ing] [the phrase "From the Ages"] to a T".[5]

From the Ages charted at #25 on the

Pitchfork Media said that the rhythm section did not serve to restrain Mitchell at times, but to "instead follow his ecstatic lead everywhere, fellow travelers on his odyssey of enthusiasms". He echoed Highter's opinion with respect to the title track's length, calling it "the one moment [on the album] where the band's patience might test your own" and asked, regarding the length and repetitive nature of the album as a whole, "is there a need for an hour of three dudes tracing and retracing a melody?"[10] The length of "From the Ages" was also criticized by Exclaim! reviewer Trystan MacDonald who cited it as the record's "only flaw" and rated the album overall 8 out of 10.[11]

Sonic Prayer won the award in 2007).[23]

In support of the album, Earthless toured the west coast of the United States in October 2013,[24] with the Shrine in Australia from December 2013 to January 2014,[25] and the east coast of the US in August 2014.[26][27] They also embarked on a tour of Europe that fall.[27] The band had planned a tour of Japan with Eternal Elysium, but were forced to cancel the engagement to tend to ill family members; they rescheduled it for January 2015.[28]

Track listing

All music is composed by Earthless

No.TitleLength
1."Violence of the Red Sea"14:46
2."Uluru Rock"14:08
3."Equus October"5:42
4."From the Ages"30:55
Total length:65:31

Personnel

Earthless

  • Isaiah Mitchell – guitar
  • Mike Eginton – bass guitar
  • Mario Rubalcaba – drum kit

Additional personnel

Credits taken from the album's liner notes.[29]

  • Phil Manley – producer, mixer
  • Isaiah Mitchell – mixer
  • Mario Rubalcaba – mixer
  • Carl Saff – mastering
  • Alan Forbes – cover art
  • Mike Eginton – inside art
  • Ake Arndt – album layout
  • Operation Mindblow – liquid overlays

Chart positions

Chart (2013) Peak
position
US
Heatseekers (Billboard)[19]
 25

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gluck, Robert. "An Interview with Earthless: Ready to Rumble". The Aquarian Weekly. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Tucceri, Daniel (December 22, 2013). "AMH Network Interview with Earthless". AMH Network. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  3. ^
    Noisey
    . Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Marchese, David (October 9, 2013). "Journey to the Center of Earthless: A Heavy Chat With the Psych-Rock Gurus". Spin. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Treppel, Jeff (November 12, 2013). "EARTHLESS: "From the Ages" Track-by-Track Breakdown". Decibel. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Muldoon, Ryan (February 13, 2014). "Earthless Official APF 2014 Interview". Austin Psych Fest.com. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  7. ^ Live at Roadburn (inside sleeve). Earthless. New York City: Tee Pee Records. 2008. TPE-089.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ a b "From the Ages Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Highter, Erik (November 14, 2013). "Earthless: From the Ages". PopMatters. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  10. ^
    Pitchfork Media
    . Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  11. ^ a b MacDonald, Trystan (October 7, 2013). "Earthless – From the Ages". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Epstein, Dan (August 14, 2013). "Earthless, From the Ages". eMusic. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Semley, John (October 17–24, 2013). "Earthless – From The Ages". Now. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  14. ^
    About.com. Archived from the original
    on April 13, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  15. ^ a b "20 Best Metal Albums of 2013: Earthless, 'From the Ages'". Rolling Stone. December 11, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  16. ^ a b Ryan, Matt (December 4, 2013). "Best Of 2013: Hard Rock". Magnet. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Hernandez, Raoul (May 2, 2014). "Austin Psych Fest 2014 Preview – Review: Earthless". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  18. ^ Terich, Jeff (July 23, 2013). "Earthless announce new album". San Diego CityBeat. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  19. ^ a b "Earthless – Chart History (Heatseekers)". Billboard. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  20. ^ Hernandez, Raoul (January 13, 2014). "Top Tens: Tired of Brooklyn indie rock? Me too". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  21. ^ King, Anthony (August 2, 2013). "San Diego Music Awards nominees released". San Diego Uptown News. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  22. ^ "San Diego Music Awards – 2014 Winners". San Diego Music Awards.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  23. ^ "San Diego Music Awards – 2007 Winners". San Diego Music Awards.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  24. ^ "Earthless Streaming New Album "From The Ages"". The PRP. October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  25. ^ "Earthless Confirm Australian Dates". theMusic.com.au. October 28, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  26. ^ "Earthless And The Shrine Plan August East Coast US Tour". The PRP. June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  27. ^ a b "Earthless Tour!". Tee Pee Records.com. July 2, 2014. Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  28. ^ "ヘヴィ・サイケデリックの新世代支配者アースレス、初来日公演が実現". Yahoo! Japan. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  29. ^ From the Ages (booklet). Earthless. New York City: Tee Pee Records. 2013. p. 1. TPE-158-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

External links

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