earthtone9: At The Nexus Of Resurgence
Nowadays, a band to be described as ‘ahead of their time’ is a rare, nay non-occurrence. Within rock and metal, sub-genres don’t have a monopoly like they used to, so for a band to play a radical, cutting-edge style that gets suffocated due to a more popular brand of heavy, only to have its own time in the spotlight years after isn’t a commonplace event. However, it’s widely regarded by many that EARTHTONE9, a band who appeared during the turn of the millennium and excited plenty in the UK with their abrasive, more grassroots approach to metal would have had far more success if they had surfaced in the last five years than when nu-metal was in its pomp. Vocalist Karl Middleton, however, isn’t so sure.
“We were just trying to do our own version of DEFTONES, KYUSS and TOOL,” he explains. “The bands that stand the test of time are the ones that are above and fit outside genres, even if they’re of the time. It’s highly complementary that people are saying we were ahead of the curve, but in some respect I’d rather be of the time than always on the outside knocking on the window!”
He’s also keen to point out that, for all that people may bemoan the state of the British metal scene of the early 2000s, from where he was looking it was in good health. “The scene that we were in felt vibrant and varied; it’s only recently where I’ve really seen that we emerged from a total absence of good bands. You do stuff that feels like you’re coming from a place of authenticity and you feel at a higher level because you’ve put the work in, but you need to trust people around you to help on your behalf unless you’re operating in a really DIY way, but of course there aren’t many large, DIY bands because the scaling means you can’t effectively be involved in all aspects.”
EARTHTONE9 were cited as one of the UK’s biggest missed opportunities for much of the 00s – their first three albums remain highly revered, not least 2000’s brilliant Arc’tan’gent record that would eventually give the festival of the same name its moniker, but without a huge break they disbanded in 2002 and wouldn’t come back until 2010, then quietly go away again in 2013. For them to return in 2024 with one of their strongest records in In Resonance Nexus is something even Karl didn’t foresee just a short while ago.
“For a large chunk of time it didn’t feel like it was going to be a thing. We were trying to be poker faced to the world but it wasn’t working; it felt like what we were writing was giving diminishing returns. Certainly Owen (Packard, EARTHTONE9 guitarist and principle writer) didn’t want his work cut up and put back together in a way he thought was less good. Meanwhile, I went to the US for five years and when I returned I didn’t want to be a part of it anymore, but a few months later Owen reached out with some songs and our decades of chemistry meant we could keep our heads up over lockdown with writing.”
He continues, “then Joe [Roberts, guitars] got in touch because he missed us, didn’t want EARTHTONE9 to be in his rear view mirror and wondered if it could be a thing again, so we told him we were writing and he came on board with a hunger and plenty of ideas, and it felt like a really potent mix again.”
Now writing for the fun of it, the band eventually had 40 songs that were whittled down to ten for In Resonance Nexus (“We’ve got so much material we’ll have the next album out by Christmas!” Karl jokes) and that sense of joy in the writing is all over the record, whether it’s on the post-metal tinged Third Mutality, the classic sounding Black Swan Roulette or the progressive stomp of closing track Strength Is My Weakness. “In the past we’ve written albums rapidly and it’s felt like there’s a tension to do with the deadline that we’re working to, but this was so much more free flowing,” reveals Karl. “It was revitalising, invigorating and didn’t have any of the elements of feeling like a working day, or a grind. Without the external pressures exacerbating us, it was a really fertile time.”
Karl also discloses that, on a personal level, being involved in EARTHTONE9 again was just the ticket after half a decade living across the point. “Having been away all that time, with the distance and drift of key friendships, I just wanted to be doing stuff in proximity with people I could be in regular contact with, and returning just as COVID was bubbling away was magic because it meant we really were doing the music for the music’s sake, without any worries over whether it would be for EARTHTONE9 or not. We were also able to discuss if EARTHTONE9 was a group of people, a sound or something else entirely and really go in depth.”
EARTHTONE9 only have two shows planned for 2024 thus far, one at The Black Heart in London and another at, appropriately, ArcTanGent Festival in August. Karl intends there to be more in the future, but is aware of recent events. “We cancelled playing at ArcTanGent fairly last minute in 2022 and it feels like we need to rebuild the trust with people so they actually believe that we’re back and want to be a band, but we definitely want to doe more UK and European shows, be busy and play our music to people – old fans, new fans and those who don’t know who we are!”
Karl divulges that the band were waiting to see what the response to In Resonance Nexus was going to be before thinking further ahead, but says that they’ve been so blown away by the response that they’re hoping people will want to see them play more shows as the ripple effect grows ever larger; as it stands, those hopes seem odds on to be realised. It might have taken longer than maybe they would have liked, but EARTHTONE9 currently stand on the precipice of achieving the status they had when the 21st Century was still infant, and then surpassing it considerably.
In Resonance Nexus is set for release on June 21st via Candlelight Records. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.
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