Earthtone9 – In Resonance Nexus
Candlelight Records
9,0/10,0
Brief:
Earthtone9’s name is one rightly hailed by those who know as one of the most forward-thinking, clever, musically wise and creatively smart in the history of British metal.
Emerging in the late ‘90s as nu-metal was beginning to surge, their more nuanced palette and intelligent approach saw them hailed as something special and excitingly against the grain from the very beginning. Making an album a year between 1998 and 2000 – beginning with their expertly crafted lo-def(inition) discord debut, and culminating in 2000’s staggering Arc’tan’gent – it was a work rate as intense as the music was uniformly brilliant.
After splitting in 2002 the band made a surprise return in 2013 with the crowd-funded album, IV. Now, 11 years on from their last record, they present In Resonance Nexus, a thrilling work of brains and muscle that not only stokes a fire, but sees the bands core members – vocalist Karl Middleton and guitarists Owen Packard and Joe Roberts – rediscovering and reconnecting with what makes them so special. In Resonance Nexus is the heaviest, fiercest, most heightened record they have ever made. A startling combination of almost feral intensity and the latter day songwriting chops they displayed on the IV album.
Indeed. And that answer involved a thrilling return to the raw and brutal intensity of earthtone9’s earlier output. Across the 10 featured tracks the band’s signature sound is present and correct but now expanded with touches of everything from doom, to black metal, to shoegaze and deathcore!
Gathering together almost 40 songs before carefully choosing what should make the album, In Resonance Nexus is a record that’s been slowly and patiently crafted and carved out by artists prepared to throw away anything that didn’t quite have the desired effect. The results – with drums duties taken on in the studio by Bullet For My Valentine’s Jason Bowld – are a collection where every dynamic, moment of heaviness, thoughtful passage and element of aggression is perfectly placed.
After heavy demoing and preproduction, this was captured by British production master Lewis Johns at The Ranch in Southampton, a collaboration that brought the band’s vision further to life.
The first look at earthtone9 2024 comes in lead-off single Oceanic Drift – a pulsating, heads-down absolute riff-fest that instantly signposts the band’s intention to try and rip your head off! As an example of how the band has distilled their core while also reaching out to new creative pastures, it’s perfect. Its lyrics, meanwhile, of things not always being what they appear, also serve as a metaphor for the record, when taken at a literal value.
In Resonance Nexus also says something important about where earthtone9 see themselves. It’s one thing to reunite to play shows of old material, it’s quite another to put yourself in the here and now by making something new, beginning a fresh era.
More than anything, In Resonance Nexus represents the idea that some things are just too good and too special to lie perpetually dormant. With something as pure as earthtone9, that desire to create never truly leaves you. Eventually, even after a decade or more, it wants to come out again.
Don’t call it a comeback – In Resonance Nexus is simply the next chapter in earthtone9’s story. One that’s worth the decade wait.
Tracklist:
- The Polyphony of Animals
- Navison Record
- Under the Snake
- Oceanic Drift
- Black Swan Roulette
- Lash of the Tongues
- Etiquette of Distortion
- Observe Your Course
- Third Mutuality
- Strength Is My Weakness
Main Focus Tracks:
- The Polyphony of Animals
- Navison Record
- Under the Snake
- Oceanic Drift
Other Recommended Tracks:
- Black Swan Roulette
- Lash of the Tongues
- Observe Your Course
Line-Up:
Karl Middleton – Vocals
Owen Packard – Guitars
Joe Roberts – Guitars/Vocals
Neil Kingsbury – Bass
Jay Walsh – Drums
Comments:
Earthtone9 delivers with In Resonance Nexus a powerful album which has the good taste to be eclectic enough to delight a large panel of listeners while remaining anchored in an authentic style.
Contacts:
Video
Selected Discography:
Lo-Def(Inition) Discord – 1998
Off Kilter Enhancement – 1999
Arc’Tan’Gent – 2000
IV – 2013
In Resonance Nexus – 2024
Photo Credit: Andy Ford