Originally existing during the noise filled years at the turn of the century when nu-metal was dominating the pages of Kerrang!, earthtone9 built themselves a dedicated and loyal following through a combination of extensive touring and a sound more evolved and refined than many of their contemporaries: picking up the harsh and angry sounds of the British metal underground of the day, but fusing them with more melodic moments akin to a band like Tool. Sadly 2002 saw the four year run of earthtone9 ending, leaving the band a part of metal history as members moved off to pursue other projects.
That is until 2010, at least, when a message appeared that the band were reforming to “play a handful of gigs to remind everyone just how good they were” with appearances at festivals such as Sonisphere and Damnation. This was backed up with the release of Inside, Embers Glow…, a greatest hits collecting some of the best tracks from earlier releases to showcase the output of the band, which was made available as a free download from the band’s site, and also on CD for collectors.
So for the fans of the earthtone9 of old, this probably won’t be a release to get hugely excited over, purely existing as a retrospective of their older work What it does stand as, though, is a great introduction to the band for those getting the chance to see any of the latest gigs and a more succinct ‘best of’ for those who have heard them before.
The sound of earthtone9 starts from the fairly familiar sound of nu-metal – the noise and sentiment of thrash metals, stripped of all its excesses and lengthy widdley guitar solos, downtuned and even angrier. From the offset of Evil Crawling I you are left in no doubt about earthtone9’s motives – a downtuned dirty and distorted riff opens up into the full band with full on screaming. This is growling metal, albeit with a slightly more considered and evolved twist to the music and style to hook you in. Where earthtone9 also stand out, though, is with the ability to shift from full-tilt screaming into a much more considered and layered sound, more closely linked to a band like Tool than the angry end of Limp Bizkit. Moments like the bridge of P.R.D Chaos, the intro to Binary 101 or 0..0..0.. show the more textured side of the band not quite as evident in the louder moments.
While today’s trends come and go almost leaving both the American mainstream and British underground of nu-metal as almost a historical point, I think it is well worth a listen for anyone into today’s emo/screamo bands to hear where they evolved from, and from the old metal crowd to see how nu-metal should be done.
Inside, Embers Glow… is available for free from www.earthtone9.co.uk
DL
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