Earthless – Live At Roadburn

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Minutes before they were due to headline a tiny 200-capacity stage at the 2008 Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, San Diego’s Earthless were switched to the 2,000-capacity main stage and given a longer set to fill, unrehearsed. Thankfully, the whole thing was recorded because everything about their performance is unbelievable. They jammed on a four-song set with no pauses, which is spread over two tracks here, one per CD, and fans of raw musicianship will find a lot to enjoy over the course of this absolutely flawless hour-and-a-half as each of the four tracks is expanded with improvisations and trade-offs between the players. That said, this is still for instrumental fans only, particularly those with a leaning towards the kind of stoner rock and metal usually found at Roadburn. Satriani and Vai fans need not apply. This is an entirely different style, but no less brilliant. This is a band completely comfortable in their own abilities letting themselves explore within very loose constraints (the original songs). The kind of thing Deep Purple used to do back in the ’70s, but a lot less self-indulgent. Live album of the year, without equal.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Live Albums, Quick.Play Reviews, Stoner, Earthless