Samantha Muljat
Dylan Carlson (left) has overseen Earth’s transition to a more experimental approach.
Guitarist Dylan Carlson has lost count of how many members have orbited in and out of his influential drone-based doom metal band Earth since its inception in 1989. Close to 20, he estimates. But a quarter-century later, Earth is selling more records than ever.
“I didn’t think we’d last this long,” Carlson, 47, says from his home in Seattle, where he was taking a break from touring behind Earth’s 10th and latest album, Primitive and Deadly. But the band has hit the road again and plays at the Frequency on Sept. 8. “I grew up with classic rock like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Other than the Stones, bands seemed to last about 10 years and they were done. So it feels weird that we’ve been around this long.”
One reason Earth has survived multiple decades of fickle musical tastes is Carlson’s refusal to stand still musically. As the only remaining original member, he has overseen the band’s transition from distorted minimalism with repetitive song structures to a more experimental approach that incorporates elements of folk, country, jazz and rock with diverse instrumentation.
Today, the band consists of Carlson, drummer Adrienne Davies and bassist Bill Herzog (who is replaced by Don McGreevy on tour).
The majority of Primitive and Deadly, released in September 2014, was recorded in the mystic desert highlands of Joshua Tree, Calif. — lending the songs a visceral, elegiac and wide-open-space aura. The album also sounds more like the work of a rock band than some of Earth’s earlier recordings, with a greater emphasis on melodies and riffs. Three of the six songs have vocals, including a pair that feature grunge pioneer and Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan.
“This was our first album to do any sort of charting,” Carlson laughs, noting that it reached No. 148 on the Billboard 200.
It seems that years of touring have helped Earth become a tighter act. “We’re a better live band than at any time previously,” Carlson says.
Live, Earth has been playing the majority of Primitive and Deadly (without the vocals) as well as older songs like “Old Black” from 2010’s Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I and “Ouroboros Is Broken” from the 1991 EP Extra-Capsular Extraction, which featured guest vocals by Carlson’s close friend and former roommate Kurt Cobain.
Earth went on hiatus after the release of 1996’s Pentastar: In the Style of Demons, in part because of Carlson’s battle with a rare form of hepatitis, a nasty heroin addiction and Cobain’s death.
These days, Carlson appears to have moved beyond his dark past and finds it amusing that more people than ever are finding Earth’s music.
“Buzz [Osborne] from the Melvins told me years ago that we could try to be the latest thing, or we could just do what we do and keep at it until enough people paid attention,” Carlson says. “We’re a no-frills rock band. For us, it’s about the sound and the music.”