EARTHRIDE (Something Wicked) CD
When I think DOOM, I think America immediately and that small part of the American east coast that is Maryland, and the D.C. area very often. Do not get me wrong, there are other parts of America with great bands as well, but that area has been very fertile when it comes to some great heavy music, not only the legendary Maryland Doom. There are a lot of bands that one could mention that are legendary amongst some of us. And in EARTHRIDE reviews you’ll always get to read that Dave Sherman was part of Spirit Caravan, but seldom his work with Wretched or Eric Little's time with Internal Void gets mentioned, though I think that EARTHRIDE reminds a lot of Wretched when you have to compare it to any band.
And I mean that not because of Sherman’s vocals, but because the musical style is pretty similar. Here you get the way of doom that seems to be forgotten by many of the newer bands or mistaken for Stoner Rock at times. Why? Because they got that laid back groove. Nevertheless this is DOOM. Good rocking Doom that does not be totally slow and totally depressive. You can always rock out to this stuff. And that is what I love about the EARTHRIDE crew. Sure this might not go down well with fans of certain bands, hell it does not even click at first, but give the album a few spins and you get hooked. The riffs and arrangements might sound simple at first, and you might think you heard some of them before but they got a certain something that just gets you to nod your head. Compared to their last outputs there is not much new from the guys but why should they change as long as they play good songs?
But hold on, is that a country ballad? 'Zodiac' starts with some nice Dreadnought-acoustic-sound and a more mellow singing of Sherman just to get back into that doom groove, this time reminding a little of Spirit Caravan. But my total favourite is 'Watch The Children Play' with such a fine bluesy lead. A great song that makes me want to go back to Maryland and see the band perform in a small club. 'Something Wicked' also contains the song 'Grip The Wheel', which has already made it to the 'Doom Capital' sampler, that I just cannot find here anymore for reasons unknown. That was a fine sampler as well. But let us get back to the third album of EARTHRIDE. I cannot say anything more than get it and rock the fuck out if you are like me and dig your doom the good rocking Maryland style.
(Thorsten Frahling)