Earth – Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light Part II (2012)

February 25, 2024

What part one should have been, IMO. Also, I’m not really saying that you could just take the best bits of both these albums and make one really fucking good album, but yeah, you could TOTALLY take the best bits from both parts and make a far more compelling and interesting record.

On the surface, part two comes across initially as even more bare bones and sparser than its predecessor. I don’t think we even get any drums until the third track, for example. But this thing loves. This thing breathes. Despite its almost identical dark, meandering theme, Angels Of Darkness part two is vibrant, alive and most importantly, interesting. Not every track is hamstrung by the same plodding beat like some smacked up version of AC/DC.

The long and short of it all is that I think this two part album project was somewhat of a failure. Despite that, some of Earth’s songwriting is not to be sniffed at. Opener “Sigil Of Brass” and the track “A Multiplicity Of Doors” are just absolutely stunning examples of Earth at their very best (and “The Rakehell” isn’t far behind).