CD review THE QUILL ‘Earthrise’

Time flies and a moment that makes you aware of it is the fact when you realize that a band like The Quill is already more than 25 years in business. The self-titled debut was released in 1995 and a solid amount of longplayer followed. The latest record was the 2017 release of ‘Born From Fire’ that is now followed by ‘Earthrise’. Working again with Eric Nilsson from 491 Studio, the band completed and recorded almost 20 songs of which nine made it on the new album.

“One of the harder things with this album was to decide what should go on the album and what we should leave behind. But when it was time to make decisions we all agreed surprisingly fast on which nine songs should make it on the album.”
(Christian Carlsson)

‘Earthrise’ starts heavy and powerful. ‘Hallucinate’ combines Black Sabbath-like doom riffs with well-crafted melody lines. The reference to the veterans of doom metal isn’t only mirrored in the opener. Also the title track, with its down-tuned guitars and the chiming bells is reminding of Iommi and Co.. Tempo is a bit higher though and the hooks are impressive.

The Quill is rooted in rock and partly metal from a few decades ago and it’s tunes like the pounding ‘Evil Omen’ that pumps the adrenaline of rock into your veins. ‘The Zone’ is a calmer song on the album and far away from being a ballad. It’s more of a soulful tune that still has some dirt under the fingernails. Calmness goes mainly for the first half before the track gains speed and becomes a roaring rock hymn. The end of the album is started off by an acoustic guitar that accompanies Ekwall’s vocals. The song carries a psychedelic space vibe and is an interesting way to end the album by the chords of rock.

To sum up: ‘Earthrise’ is a hard rock album with stoner elements and reference to some the pioneers in rock and metal. Fans get 47 minutes of well-crafted music, songs that have a good flow from start to finish. Although it sounds a bit weird to formulate it that way, but ‘Earthrise’ is actually down-to-earth. No frills, just rock’n’roll.