Earthless - Black Heaven (CD)

2018 release. Earthless has a surprise for you. Whereas the band's three previous albums featured anywhere from two to four completely instrumental space rock jams, the California trio's fourth album, Black Heaven, is nothing like that. "It's quite different," drummer Mario Rubalcaba says with a laugh. "It has six songs, and most importantly it has vocals on about 70 percent of the record. There goes being pigeonholed as an instrumental band, I guess..." Black Heaven takes on a more classic rock hue than previous outings. "For me personally, the psychedelic thing is pretty important," Rubalcaba offers. "But I'm not sure if we'll always be on the crazier side of things musically. Even on this record, there are moments when it's more psyched-out, but we've always been really big fans of classic rock stuff like ZZ Top, James Gang, Allman Brothers - and of course, Cream. There would be no Earthless if it wasn't for CREAM. They're like the great-grandfathers of power trios. So, some of those simpler influences have leaked through on this record. To me, [album opener] 'Gifted By The Wind' has a more JAMES GANG or ZZ TOP vibe than Flower Travellin' Band or any of the krautrock stuff. With all the vocals and harmonies, that's definitely a different direction for us."