Ya got us, earthtone9! You really did! Following some less than optimistic social media posts about the state of Nottingham, UK’s legendary earthtone9 recently we’d made peace with the fact that 2013’s IV might be it from our most favorite underground overseas beasts. Then “Oceanic Drift” came heralding a new record arriving in less than 3 months as of this writing and we couldn’t be happier… as should you!
We don’t have a favorite earthtone9 record per se. For us it’s kind of impossible to choose just one of the four currently out. Especially when many an early record by e9 was obtained pre-streaming services when, GASP!, we had to search what the interwebs was and mostly end up waiting for amazon.co.uk to deliver. So it’s that old record buying experience along with the anticipation of its’ arrival that adds to our love of this band that we’ve been into for almost 25 years now thanks to a random track here and there included with our weekly Kerrang! fix during our college days.
Anyway! New stuff is here and it’s the perfect jumping on point for new fans of the Heavy and a riotous reunion for us longtimes. According to the band, the upcoming fifth full-length “is the heaviest and most intense record we have ever done, with production handled by Lewis Johns” with In Resonance Nexus “Harking back to our more angular, chaotic and ferocious roots”. And while we don’t judge a book and all that, first single “Oceanic Drift” is a pretty good indicator of that statement.
Of course the new song could be a big red herring with an album full of ballads on the way but we’re hoping that’s not the case as “Oceanic Drift” is pretty brutal even compared to IV with vocalist Karl Middleton sounding positively possessed with nary a trace of his signature swoon (Of course the chorus is going to go that direction but for the most part… HEAVY). The drumming by Bullet For My Valentine’s Jason Bowld (Who played on the entire new record) is fierce and dynamic as are Owen Packard and Joe Roberts’ massive shreds and if you, like us, tend to revisit discography’s of artists you like ahead of new music arriving then hearing “Oceanic Drift” following a playthrough of Off Kilter Enhancement or Lo-def(inition) Discord is just the next evolution of earthtone9. And we’re happy we’re here for it.
“Oceanic Drift” is out now on all your most favorite streaming services, most of which can be found here. For more from earthtone9, and ALL the deets about the upcoming In Resonance Nexus album arriving on June 21st through Candlelight Records (Pre-orders already up here), follow them across the information superhighway by heading here or here.