Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is Earth's first new material since 2005 and it's arguably the instrumental rock group's most satisfying effort to date. The desolate trudge of their material prior to this album has given way to a collection of songs that communicate redemption and even hope through the meaty guitar tones and the celestial organs that dominate the record. Rise to Glory revolves around an ascending slide guitar hook and fulfills its promise of grandeur with a wall of white noise. Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine) sounds like the world the morning after a rainstorm with the meditatively repetitive twang in its guitar line, the epically dirty riffs that burst in briefly and the organ that provides the shine from the title. Like all of the band's material, patience is the key word and the painstakingly crafted melodies paint a picture that can only be described as majestic. [Tobias Kahn]