Originally I had thought it would be something radically different and if it had been I probably wouldn't have stuck with the name. Remarking on the stylistic change, Carlson was quick to point to the continuity with Earth's previous sound: Its music was still drone based, slow-paced, and lengthy, but it now included a drummer and featured strong elements of country music. It's not like, "I need to get it to write," it's at a much more fundamental level to your existence, like, "I need it to get out of bed." Įarth reappeared around 2000 with a markedly different sound. Heroin is part of your life - you don't function without it. Then suddenly it wasn't and something else was there, and that was something destructive and damaging. Carlson attributed the break primarily to his heroin addiction:Īt one point, music was everything to me. The band went on hiatus after the release of Pentastar: In the Style of Demons due to Carlson's personal problems, including heroin addiction, rehabilitation, his connection to Kurt Cobain's death, and incarceration.
Įarth 2 was described as a "milestone" by Terrorizer 's Dayal Patterson, which he described as "a three-track, 75 minute deluge of feedback and distorted guitars that marked the blueprint for what Carlson at the time coined 'ambient metal'". Cobain would use the shotgun to kill himself six days later. Cobain told Carlson the gun was for protection. Because police had twice confiscated guns from Cobain inside a single year, Cobain had Carlson purchase a shotgun for him on March 30, 1994.
Carlson has remained the core of the band's line-up throughout its changes.Ĭarlson was a close friend of Kurt Cobain, who sang lead vocals in the song "Divine and Bright", from a demo included on the re-release of the live album Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars.
Dylan Carlson founded the band in 1989 along with Slim Moon and Greg Babior, taking the title "Earth" from Black Sabbath's prior name.