Mother Earth and Father Boris sharing the same stage: It’s hard to imagine a better soundtrack for the birth of a mountain, or even a planet. And while neither of these appeared within the walls of Trees last night, that might just be because they appeared in some far-flung place instead. Employees of NASA would do well to consider Boris’ current U.S. tour if they should find themselves in needing to explain any interstellar anomalies which might appear in the coming weeks.
If Boris were a volcano, then openers Earth were the lava flowing through. In fact, it was hard not to think of Monday night as a double bill. Led by Dylan Carlson, a former roommate of Kurt Cobain’s, Earth is the grandfather-figure in the family tree of doom and drone metal. As Carlson sardonically put it last night, “Never thought I would make it this far. A lot of people owe me money. Though most of them are dead.”
Their molten slabs of guitar sound rolled over the edge of the stage like lava flecked with shards of feedback. It seemed impossible that only two guitars and a drum set should produce such a monolithic sound. The songs (mostly material from Pentastar, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light and The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull) with their dirge-like tempos and architectonic structures, sounded like music for giants — proof that giants that stride the earth.