Earth (American band)

Earth
Earth performing live in Hamburg in 2009; from left to right: Steve Moore, Don McGreevy, Adrienne Davies and Dylan Carlson
Background information
Origin	Olympia, Washington, United States
Genres	Drone metal instrumental rock psychedelic rock post-rock
Years active	1989–1997, 2003–present
Labels	Sub Pop No Quarter Or Southern Lord Blast First/Mute
Associated acts	Melvins Nirvana Sunn O))) Thrones Bill Frisell
Website	thronesanddominions.com
Members	Dylan Carlson Adrienne Davies Don McGreevy Bill Herzog
Past members	Slim Moon Greg Babior Kelly Canary Joe Preston Ian Dickson Dave Harwell Sean McElligot John Schuller Michael McDaniel Jonas Haskins Steve Moore Angelina Baldoz Karl Blau Lori Goldston

Earth is an American musical group based in Olympia, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by the guitarist Dylan Carlson. Earth's music is nearly all instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages. Their early work is characterized by distortion, droning, minimalism, and lengthy, repetitive song structures. The band's later output reduces the distortion while incorporating elements of country, jazz rock, and folk. Earth is recognized as a pioneer of drone metal, with the band's Earth 2 being regarded as a milestone of the genre.

Dylan Carlson founded the band in 1989 along with Slim Moon and Greg Babior, taking the title "Earth" from Black Sabbath's original name. Carlson has remained the core of the band's line-up throughout its changes. Outside of the underground music world, Carlson is perhaps best known for having been a close friend of grunge icon Kurt Cobain, as well as the person who purchased the gun that Cobain reportedly later used to commit suicide. Cobain 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.

Earth 2 was described as a "milestone" by Terrorizer's Dayal Patterson, which she 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'". 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 suicide, and incarceration. Carlson attributed the break primarily to his heroin addiction: