"I saw "Bohren & Der Club of Gore" listed in the liner notes of Fantomas' "Delirium Cordia" and decided that any band with a name like that deserves a listen. So I looked in to Bohren, half expecting grind/noise weirdness (which isn't bad by any stretch) and much to my surprise and delight I heard what was described as "horror jazz". The ghostly sounding sax, slow drums, beautiful piano and Fender Rhodes all come together seamlessly creating some of the most wonderfully unique music I've ever heard. This isn't music for those with short attention spans or for people that need something different and weird to happen every other minute. Changes do take place within the songs, however it happens so slowly you might not even recognize it. "Black Earth" is a breath of fresh air in a musical climate populated by flavor of the week hip-hop, generic sounding "metal" and disposable pop. So turn it on, listen closely and fade out into infinity."
Blackety-black-black, black-a-roo!
craig patrick duff | hawaii | 04/30/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"wow, this music is more slow than a disinterested wife retreiving a beer for the fat lazy man she married. slow and repetitive, but some slick music. at first i thought, wow, i've never heard a drummer play so slowly, but soon become captivated by by the amazing slowness of the whole thing. it moves along like a dark stretched out minimalistic symphony. though i'm a short-attention-span-spazoid and figured that i would just sleep through this whole long, drawn out piece of black something-or-another (earth, i guess), i found that i was really enjoying the whole thing; yeah, you'll have to wait about 7 minutes each time you feel something new should happen, but i guess that's just part of the experience. black and slow. really black and really slow. maybe even black black and slow slow."
Soul-reaving
Strobe Lights And Blown Speakers | Louisville | 01/16/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Dark, dark atmospheres are created here. The band describes themselves as "horror jazz", which is close to what they sound like (although not in a schizophrenic John Zorn sorta way). The music is slow and brooding and very dark. Despite it's slowness and "jazziness" (although it certainly doesn't swing), this album is HEAVY - not in a distorted, down-tuned guitar kind of way, but in a CRUSHING ATMOSPHERE kind of way. This is the kind of music that overtakes you - the kind of music that when you listen to, you can't move or do anything, you're just paralyzed by the sheer weight of it all. _Black Earth_ makes you feel like the demons of hell are returning from below, reaching into your chest, and trying to take your soul. Highly recommended."
Dark Ambient Jazz
Andy Reddings | Minneapolis, MN | 04/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Think Jazz.
Think Darkness.
Think of an urban land.
Think of the gloomiest and grayest day you ever lived.
Think of an old saxophone, stationed in a dark and damp corner played by an old and frail man, whether he be black or white, conveying the same emotion a human would express when in trouble, doubt, pain, anger, sorrow, death...
Think darkness. Again.
I will not say more. I will not say less."
Slow beautiful death
IRate | 05/24/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"3 1/2 stars
This dark minimalist jazz is gorgeous stuff, although the artist's limit themselves by sticking too closely to the regimen they have inked out for themselves. They perform haunted works that seem to repeat themselves thematically too often and cause your average non-predisposed audiophile to become disaffected from all the shimmering, lifeless death-odes we have never quite heard jazz records parlay. While this is by all accounts a standout sound, it is unfortunate this sensual band is intent on mining the same territory previously sought, I fear that without venturing further into this amazing palette they've rendered, this sound will play thin upon further releases. For now though, many tracks stay fresh in their utter creep into your chilled heart."