Dylan Carlson
Conquistador

The Earth from Olympia, Washington were undoubtedly among the less typical bands of the ultimate "indie" label, Sub Pop Records, yet also one of the leading groups of that experience in the first half of the nineties, considered a true cult object both then and now. The central and constant element of this group was and is (the band officially reunited in 2003) Dylan Carlson, guitarist and singer, influenced by the classic hard rock of the seventies and the historic Melvins, as well as minimalist composers, hence devoted to La Monte Young: a musician and guitarist with a peculiar and recognizable style, with his music he managed to break down various boundaries between doom metal and alternative rock and what was called grunge, then up to post-rock.

Curiously, this new solo record of his came into my hands at the same time as the return of another cult band, the Sleep from San Jose, California, which along with the Earth were undoubtedly among the most loved bands by aficionados of a certain rough sound and suitable for the most seasoned psychonauts with a tough demeanor, raised on the blasting sound of doom, stoner, and Swans devastations and Bardo Pond effluents, King Buzzo's toxic wastes. Certainly less unexpected than "The Sciences" by Sleep (Third Man Records), "Conquistador" (Sargent House) is a fully instrumental album whose sound can be defined as the peculiar one of a guitarist now based in Seattle, Washington. Starting from the long and voluminous introductory title track, the album is marked by guitar features as thick as brushstrokes, where the artist's hand is heavy as a "boar."

Five rough tracks of vigorous distortions and the sonic expression of a John Carpenter's "Vampires" type revival saga, infected by that typical drone tapeworm that here generates directly from the rust of the guitar's frenzied sound, and where even the quiet moments of "And then the Crows Descended" (an interlude of about a minute) and the concluding "Reaching the Gulf" still appear marked by a sudden and imminent apocalypse. What can I say, no compromises here, this is an album suitable only for those "old school" folks (wherever they may be located) who are used to jumping the ditch or better yet smoothing everything around with a bulldozer. A bothersome record, therefore, an intrusion into your daily privacy, an armed raid, violence.