Earth at the Dame/Springwater

Earth are probably the single most important band you've never heard of. This is not surprising as their slow, glacial sludge style of instrumental Metal took more than 10 years to catch on. The story of Earth is not unlike that of the diligent tortoise who eventually finds victory over the hasty hare. Through diligence and dedication to his belief that slower is heavier, front man Dylan Carlson has managed to invent his own genre of metal, called Drone, a genre that is already beginning to change the very definition of Heavy Metal.

In those 10 years, Carlson, who originally formed the band in Olympia, Wash., saw his influence everywhere, and witnessed the quick success of his peers, but saw little recognition for his efforts. One might argue that without Dylan Carlson, the whole of the Seattle Grunge scene would have sounded drastically different. Unfortunately, Carlson may also be partially responsible for one of the most defining and tragic moments in rock n' roll of the past 20 years, as he purchased the shotgun with which Kurt Cobain committed suicide.

Then in 2005, just as a whole new string of bands like Sunn O))), Boris, Om and the whole of the Southern Lord label were wearing Earth's influence on their sleeves, the band dropped the distortion from their sound and replaced it with a country twang. This is the Earth I witnessed on April 27 and 28.

The first night was at the Dame in Lexington, Ky. Locals, Tight Leather (who once played Bread & Bagel), opened the show with some psychedelic surf-infused noise rock. Were there a spectrum of almost infinite scale upon which Pink Floyd were at one end and Man... or Astroman at the other, Tight Leather would find themselves at the dead center. With some late-60s-style visuals projected from an off stage laptop set up, the band brought the only high energy performance of the evening.

Earth were of course, a whole different beast all together. Like the tortoise, Earth were in no hurry to finish their set, or for that matter, any one song. This was as calculated a performance as I've ever seen. Playing material from their recently released The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull, Earth proved that patience is indeed a virtue, even within the realm of Heavy Metal. Most bands tend to play their live material somewhat faster even if only slightly. Such was not the case with Earth, who seemed to take great pride in their effortless however deliberate pace.

This was much the same story the following night at Springwater, in Nashville. The show was again opened by a local band, Hollow Ox, who were a fantastic combination of Post Rock and Post Punk, and yet another band clearly demonstrating Earth's vast influence over modern music.

Earth's performance was more or less same as the night before, right down to the setlist. This is also pretty much what I expected. So why go see a band two nights in a row when I'm 97% the two shows will not differ in the slightest? Because when will I ever have the chance to see a band like Earth twice in a row? Probably never, that's when.

The result from both nights was an audience of mostly long-haired guys in black t-shirts slowly nodding their heads in unison. Of course, this is also exactly what I expected to find. One does not go to an Earth show to get their face rocked off, but rather for the experience of seeing something much more rare; that of a band who refuse to be be effected by the ever quickening pace of the world around them. This is why Earth matters. Because of Dylan Carlson's unaltered belief that what he is doing is important enough to keep doing, he has not only outlasted his peers, but found a greater form of success than any of them. Carlson may not be famous, but he is leaving a deep mark on heavy metal in a way that is redefining the genre even as you read this.