Earthless - Live at Roadburm
Review by John Pegoraro (StonerRock.com)
Tee Pee Records
Release date: October 7, 2008


The trick of free-flowing instrumental jams is keeping it interesting for long stretches of time. If there's a group currently out there that knows this better than Earthless, I'd like to know who it is. From my vantage point, Earthless is the cream of the psychedelic rock crop, and while that opinion was solidified well before I heard Live at Roadburn, the San Diego-based band's latest reinforced that feeling tenfold.

This two CD/LP release, recorded live and without any overdubs at this year's prestigious Roadburn Festival (You don't know about this? What are you, dense?), may take awhile to get going, but once it does, the band's impossible to stop. Disc one's sole track - "Blue/From the Ages" - shows the band (Mario Rubalcaba, Isaiah Mitchell, Mike Eginton) at their more improvisational, which probably explains why it takes so long for them to really warm up. Truthfully, they probably could have trimmed ten minutes off the beginning of this 45 minute beast (although at the same time, I'm not really complaining). The second disc offers a seamless merger of Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky's two tracks. "Godspeed/Sonic Prayer" is shorter – only 21 minutes – and more direct, picking up speed and intensity as it progresses to its godly climax.

Is this the album of the year? Maybe, maybe not. But it's definitely the live album of the year. Highly recommended.