INTRODUCING: Earthmass
WORDS: Jim Forsyth
For fans of progressive rock and doom your options are not exactly limited these days – which is great, but generally means searching around a bit before finding that one band you really connect with.
Enter EARTHMASS, a diamond in the rough – the Essex based 4 piece has been around since 2012 with 6 records out already (obtainable through the band’s website). Their first, Lunar Dawn (Keep, Relic and Ritual), being a single song 20 minute 45 seconds long epic set a very high standard for the band but through their releases all the way up to their latest called Collapse.
EARTHMASS have a very atmospheric sound, very filling too – sounds that wrap around the listener and taking them on a journey. No matter how short or long the songs are they are always tight, well recorded and differing. A common standpoint to most outsiders to the prog/doom genre is that a lot of the tracks or at least the genre’s most prominent tracks and artists sound the same. EARTHMASS’ content is diverse, and progressive in the sense that you can very much hear the band’s development as you cycle through their catalogue.
The solid sound on the records transfers incredibly well live, EARTHMASS have flawless energy on-stage, captivating their audiences and blowing them away with chunky guitar and bass tones, beautiful vocal styling booming drums. Seeing these boys live is an experience more than a gig, being pushed and pulled by the music through this intense world that they build up.
For fans of the genre who are looking for something new, or for new blood, to say recommended would not even justify how much it is worth giving EARTHMASS a listen. Oozing potential, professionalism and style it is surprising how they are not a household name by now.
