Even Hell has its Heroes
Clyde Petersen / / 2023
Seattle's swampy rivers and wild forests set an atmospheric scene for the tale of Earth – the slowest metal band on earth - which created the drone metal genre, was an inspiration to the grunge rock scene and had an unfortunate hand in Kurt Cobain's death.
Earth is a band that usually lets their tectonically slow drone-metal speak for itself. But now director Clyde Petersen has managed to make the definitive film about the band, with a gritty, analogue aesthetic that perfectly matches the brooding music. With small-town boredom and the Sub Pop label as his co-conspirators, the band’s only solid rock, Dylan Carlson, launched the drone-metal genre in 1989. But a massive heroin addiction and the grief of losing his best friend, Kurt Cobain, could have short-circuited the still-active band long ago. Stripped of cheap effects and cheeky montage sequences, the film meanders through Seattle’s swampy rivers and Earth’s unlikely paths in life in the best possible way – with an original score created for the film by the band themselves.