Canadian stoner doom outfit Earth Altar release new single »Part A: The Descent« taken from the upcoming split album with Sun Below

Canadian stoner doom outfit Earth Altar has released new single »Part A: The Descent« taken from the upcoming split album »Inter Terra Solis« with Sun Below, due out on September 15th, 2023 via Black Throne Productions.

Tracklist:
01. Earth Altar – The Descent
02. Earth Altar – The Garden Of Earthly Delights
03. Earth Altar – Interlude
04. Earth Altar – In The Growing Light Of Anthelion
05. Earth Altar – Transmutation (The Alchemist’s Dream)
06. Sun Below – Red Giant
07. Sun Below – Methuselah Star (Interlude)
08. Sun Below – Gravity Tide

Courtesy of C Squared Music:

Proggy space rock/doom metal hybrid Earth Altar have released »Part A: The Descent«, from »Inter Terra Solis«, their upcoming split album with Sun Below. The album will be released September 15, 2023 on vinyl via Black Throne Productions.

The band comments “»The Descent« is introspective. Taking the metaphor of a journey to the center of the Earth, we explore and reflect on the time we have spent in this world. A physical movement is conveyed in the song imagery, but the same imagery applies to us writing the song. The introduction, those plodding first few steps to the ending chords, triumphant in their final moments and hanging in the air until at last fading out.”

About »Inter Terra Solis«:

The progressive space rock/doom metal hybrid Earth Altar and heavy stoner/doom power trio Sun Below unleash a riff-heavy journey across time and the cosmos on their upcoming split album »Inter Terra Solis«. Having sculpted an epic ride of distorted guitar, vocals and trippy lyrics, the bands explore the labyrinth of the human psyche and the unpredictability of the universe within a ponderous palette of crushing doom and stoner-tinged mystery. The »Inter Terra Solis« is due out on September 15th via Black Throne Productions. Pre-orders are available HERE.

Photo by Sacha Stover (Earth Altar)

First on the split, Earth Altar is the interplay between the complex, diverse drum style of Jon MacIsaac and the unique, ethereal bass guitar playing of Spencer Trout. Earth Altar seeks to leave these mundane bonds and ascend through the heavy and the other-worldly. Mixing stoner rock, doom metal, space rock, and psych rock with progressive song structures, cosmic musings, and world-wide influences; Earth Altar sounds uniquely themselves.

We begin our journey with »The Descent«. Reminiscent of Dante’s infamous journey, the odyssey begins here. While an opening to the underworld, it is not quite the underworld as we know it. It is not a manifestation of divine justice, but a literal world beneath our feet. The air, initially stifling, comes to grow fresher as we go deeper and further. The purpose of the journey, though obscured, is beginning to reveal itself.

»The Garden Of Earthly Delights« takes the listener through caverns of ethereal light and diverse flora and fauna. All life here is familiar, yet odd like a dream. We press on, »In The Growing Light Of Anthelion«, the light being as warm as the sun, but not as bright. Wrapping with »Transmutation (The Alchemist’s Dream)« the story bears the fruits of the struggles of our journey, the base thrill and pleasure, the acquisition of knowledge of so few before.

Photo by MG Ommert (Sun Below)

Closing out the album with three immense tracks, Sun Below is a heavy stoner/doom power trio playing a signature brand of self-described “Sativa rock”: a combination of fuzz, volume, and heavy grooves. Sun Below seek to spread their infectious, rollicking sound to the masses and their mission remains to create riff heavy rock fused with the sonic weight of crushing doom. The current lineup of Jason Craig (guitars/vocals), Liam “Acid Goblin” Gray (bass) and Will Adams (drums) blend these elements into long burning jams that worship at the altar of tone, riffs, and smoke.

Sun Below starts their cosmic journey with an instrumental, »Red Giant«. The Sun, looming silent yet ominously over Earth, represents a constant reminder of the finite nature of our delicate cosmic existence. »Methuselah Star« – in the distant bellows of space, an ancient star burns luminously. Rivaling the universe itself in terms of age, the origin of its creation remains clouded in uncertainty. Wrapping with »Gravity Tide«, Sun Below explores the delicate cosmic balance of the Earth, Moon and Sun. The nature of our being is fragile, we live in the shadow of an unpredictable universe of which we understand little, and can impact even less.

As above, so below, the duality of the underworld and the cosmos, the microcosm and the macrocosm is thoroughly traversed through the lyrical themes and tones of each band. While Earth Altar and Sun Below tackle a different aspect of our reality and nature, each is intimately tied with the other.

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well