Lavishly packaged in a beautifully presented wallet, this two-disc recording of Earth live in New York serves as a wonderful epilogue to their recent album Hex. Featuring the same line up as on that album, Live Hex sees Carlson and company showcasing their latest material and applying their newer, sparser sound to older songs from Earth’s back catalogue.aRCHIVE
The first disc begins with a non-album track from the Hex sessions, “Plague of Angels,” which slowly builds up the mood into powerful and almost joyous ambience. The recording quality is like an audience recorded bootleg but much clearer and James Plotkin has mastered the album masterfully; when the kick drum is hit the room shuddered and I could feel it through the furniture. Not something I’m normally be impressed with apart from the fact that I had the volume on a low setting. The previously released tracks from Hex sound different on this album. “Raiford” sounds more oppressive and heavier than the studio version. Most of the differences are possibly due to the lack of overdubs on the live recordings; Carlson put layers of banjos and guitars over each other on the album which softened the tracks. With just the lower toned guitars (both regular and baritone) the music weighs a few tons.
One of the most interesting parts of the album for those familiar with Earth are the new versions of older songs. “Ouroboros is Broken” from Earth's first EP sounds like a completely new song. I was utterly astonished to see what it was when I checked the track listing. It then segues into “Coda Maestoso in Fb Minor,” which again sounds utterly different to the original. Whereas it used to be a fuzzed out textbook example of stoner metal at its finest, it is now sounds like damnation made music. It seems like it’s slower and heavier, like someone put a huge rock on a chain around its neck.
The second disc is a 3” CD with what I take to be the encore on it. The combination of a regular CD and a 3” CD is a nice touch. The two tracks on it are a perfect finisher for the album. “Dire and Ever-circling Wolves” is more of that cinematic Western of the Damned styled tracks from Hex. The closing piece, “Divine and Bright," was another great update of an older piece. Yet again it is completely mutated in its mood and feeling with Earth’s new style. At this point of the album I am kicking myself for not taking a cheap flight to the UK to see them on their tour.
Live Hex isn’t strong enough to act as a replacement to its parent studio album but it does serve as an excellent document of Earth’s current incarnation. One slight problem I had with it was the editing between tracks (to cut out the band tuning between songs) as it seemed a little rough, at one point it sounds like the crowd is mid cheer then instantly “Raiford” starts, almost mid-riff. However Live Hex is certainly the best of all the available Earth live albums. It is a commanding recording that shows that despite turning off most of the fuzz, Earth are still one of the heaviest and most formidable bands on their namesake.
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