Black Heaven is a slice of the divine served up in a suprising fashion by Earthless

90/100

Earthless is known for their fuzzed out, epic long instrumental space jams, which often take up one, even two sides of a record, and live their improvisational skills are legendary so four albums and nearly 15 years into their career I don't think anybody was expecting the curveball the band threw at them when Black Heaven dropped on March 16th.  The entire album is just 40 minutes long.  In the past Earthless has been known to play one song that length.  I mean seriously, the longest jam on Black Heaven checks in at measly 8:51.  Two songs are under six minutes long, and one, the break-neck burner "Volt Rush," is just a paltry 1:53 long.  The rad video featuring skateboard legend Taylor Smith tearing it up on the streets of San Diego at least adds 49 seconds to that time.

But here's the big kick in the pants.  The band known for 20-minute long plus space jam instrumentals, has not only reigned in the length of their songs, there are vocals on two thirds of the tracks on Black Heaven.  That's right, four of the six tunes, have lyrics, and one of the instrumentals is the brief interlude "Volt Rush," meaning MOST of the album has vocals this time around.  The other instrumental is the title track, "Black Heaven."

But do not be dissuaded zone trooper, no do not despair, for all hope is not lost.  Hear me out.

Lets break the album down a track at a time.  First up is "Gifted By the Wind," a classic 70s style rocker in the vain of ZZ Top or maybe the James Gang, with some killer guitar effects.  And the vocals, well, Isaiah Mitchell can carry a tune pretty damn well.  And Earthless fans really shouldn't be surprised at that fact anyway.  Those that purchased the CD version of Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky heard Mitchell sing on the bonus track, a cover of the Groundhogs' "Cherry Red."  Also, Earthless submitted a cover of "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" for Magnet Eye's 2015 Electric Ladyland (Redux) Jimi Hendrix tribute project, so Earthless has produced recordings with vocals in the past.  It just has been an oddity, something the band hasn't focused upon.  Drummer Mario Rubalcaba explained to Nuclear Blast in a recent interview posted on their web site, "we've never tried to focus on writing a few songs with vocals on them."  Well, this time they did, to pretty amazing results.

Track two is "End to End," which comes in with an eerie intro, then the marathon of retro guitars kicks in.  A nice solo brings the whole affair to a satisfying conclusion.  In my mind, this is one of the weak tracks, and it's good.

"Electric Flame" had me feeling the blues, Blue Oyster Cult and Blue Cheer influences that is, but with a distinct desert flavor, possibly because Earthless took this recording to ground zero where such acts as Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age have recorded at Rancho De La Luna studios, Joshua Tree, California, to track.

Side two of the vinyl gives long-time fans a small dose of what they've come to expect from Earthless, about 10 minutes or so worth of uninterrupted instrumental jams in the way of the next two songs, the aforementioned slam, bam thank you ma'am "Volt Rush" and the Zepplin riff fueled title track "Black Heaven."

In the final soulful tune "Sudden End" I swear I believe Mitchell is channeling Joe Walsh, as it brings to mind some of his great vocal tracks, "Rocky Mountain Way," "Take It To the Limit," and "In The City."  It took me a few minutes to figure out who it was Mitchell sounded like, and I wasn't certain of myself when I figured it out even then.

This album shows a great deal of growth and evolution for Earthless, which is a great thing.  If you become stagnant you die, and nobody wants death for this killer band.  We want them making great records for years to come.  This is one of the band's best album's to date. 90/100.