Track Listing

1. Omens And Portents I (The Driver)
2. Rise To Glory
3. Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)
4. Engine Of Ruin
5. Omens And Portents II (Carrion Crow)
6. Hung From The Moon
7. Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4759 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

not for me
Drone instrumentalists Earth have been plugging away for years and have achieved a success built on respect as much as anything else in truth,this their sixth album ditches the drone aspect and concentrates more on song structure to create something that is more bluesy than metal,and more average than good.
The songs are epic and sometimes this doesnt work in their favour,they can be quite repetitive and lack a certain something,it isnt all bad of course but i found this very hyped album to be something of a let down,just so you know.

Tighter, fuller and more powerful than ever before!
On 'The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull' Earth is no longer one mans vision. This is a band record, the instruments are no longer there to colour the guitar lines. With this new attitude comes a new level of resonance and depth to the sound. Where Hex was stark, bare and spacious this album is full, rich and warm. The songs now have BIG hooks and are full of emotion whilst also seeming (to me) to go back more towards the big drone (this is especially helped by the move from having Baritone Guitar to Bass Guitar). Where Hex was loose and occasionally more unpredictable this album is tight and hypnotic, in a similar way to some of the songs from Pentastar but sounding nothing like that album.
As with all Earth releases it does not do the live band justice, but that is the nature of what they do. Seeing them live in November last year and more recently this month in Camden they managed to bring more looseness and spontaneity to the songs, whereas on CD it is tight and concise.
Still none of these changes or differences are unwelcome and the more complex interweaving sound of a band coagulating together is perfect for the melodic sound Dylan Carlson has been storming towards ever since Earth2.
Essential.

Earth Made Honey In My Skull....
If Earth's previous album; Hex, was the wounded, lone rider slumped across his mule's back trudging off into the sunset in a barren 1930s American dustbowl; The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is the sun rising with the rider long gone and the first new shoots of grass are escaping the ground.

There is a majestic uplifting hopefulness in these recordings compared to the stark, sombreness of Hex. It's a masterful evolution for Dylan Carlson's Earth and `The Bees...' has proven to be one of the most exciting and eagerly anticipated releases of 2008 so far.

The tracks are far more structured and cohesive this time around and more varied; not a whole lot, but just enough for this album to capture and idefinitely keep your attention. It's obvious the songs are intricately crafted and layered, Carlson's countrified Telecaster twang being the hub by which every other instrument is guided. The only hint of virtuosity is when Bill Frisell appears on three tracks providing complimentary psychedelic, fuzzy guitar lines.

Adrienne Davies' steady drumming is very understated here and merely provides a backbone to the chiming and interleaving guitar and piano lines. Her drumming is essential to Earth's vibe; it's ofter hard to overlook and take for granted how hard it is to drum so slowly and with infinite restraint. Don McGreevey's bass is also an essential aspect to the band's overall sound yet is so subtle and restrained it's easy to forget that underpinning warmth is actually there. Though you'd miss it if it werent. All of this points to how much a band effort this is and how well the tracks are composed.

The production is also fantastic. It's an incredibly warm sounding album as opposed to Hex's stark coldness. Yet it's not polished by any means; any studio trickery and sheen would render the album sterile.
Plus Arik Roper and Seldon Hunt's artwork make this definitely something special to get hold of rather than to download.

This is by no means a perfect album however; it's one dimentional pace will likely test some people's patience and the fact that there is no vocals or virtuoso instrumentation; blistering solos and the like, gives the album a sameness and you'd be an obsessive listener indeed if you could name each track if put on random.

These songs were also undoubtedly meant to be experienced live; I was fortunate to see these songs at All Tomorrow's Parties festival before the album came out and I have to say the vibe Earth created through these tracks in a live setting was unparalleled and I was slightly disappointed the album recordings couldn't quite live up to the experience.

So, however brilliant The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is, it is not perfect; go and see these guys live.
I expect perfection to come from Earth's next evolutionary step!