All Aboard Earthship for a Sludgey, Stoney Jam

At this point we know what we can expect from any release on Pelagic, the label owned and run by The Ocean mastermind Robin Staps: quality. Some of the bands on his label share sonic similarities with The Ocean and others don’t, but everything is really damn good, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the guy that’s brought us so many immaculately fine-tuned Ocean records.

MS scribe Dave Mustein first got us hip to Pelagic rosterees Earthship in 2011, and we fell in love with them shortly thereafter. The band is ex-Ocean drummer Jan Orberg’s baby, and Staps pitched in on guitar until he left in 2012. Earthship do sound a bit Ocean-y — like the latter’s most sludgey, stoned-out moments, with all the proggy excess stripped away — although, truthfully, I’d probably never come to that conclusion if not for the label association.

Today we get a new Earthship song in the shape of “Serpent Cult,” and an entertaining video to go with it as well. Check it out:

Withered comes out on September 15th via Pelagic.