Noisepicker have returned with their second album The Earth Will Swallow The Sun - a collection of sounds built up over the duo’s seven year semi-hiatus, mixed by frontman Harry Armstrong. Drawing influence from his and drummer Kieran Murphy’s relative projects as well as the doom, punk, and blues that brought them to rock in the first place, the duo have paid homage to these roots in this passion project.
The album opens with single 'What You Deserve', an eerie rock ballad that sets the pace and atmosphere for this project. The energy is that of dragging a broken leg away from the battlefield, fuelled only by revenge and the indomitable human spirit. This is followed by the first act highlight 'Chew', a cheesy rock song playing on the idea of hating ones face and the mind it contains; though a little on the nose in its lyrics (an issue that will persist throughout the following eight tracks), its echoed chorus and swelling soundscape make it stand out within this project’s first half.
'Tomorrow Lied the Devil' isn’t too far behind its predecessor, but is where the critiques of The Earth Will Swallow The Sun become fully formed. For its positives, the tension is built and maintained well - in particular by Murphy’s drum work, which includes a serviceable outro solo as the track closes out. The use of live mix is also to 'Tomorrow Lied the Devil’s benefit here - the manifesto style lyrics hit more genuinely when the echoes of the vocals can be heard. This said, the first major critique of this project is that of the somewhat forced nature of Armstrong’s husk in his vocals; this is presumably to fit the into the homage of the more traditional subgenres that Noisepicker is aiming for, but the struggles to keep up this tone become more apparent as the attempts to change notes have mixed results. Also, pet peeve one: there should be a comma between 'Tomorrow' and 'Lied'.
As the second half of this project sets off the first true lowlight emerges in the form of 'The End of Beginning'. The use of the crashing sea and its harmonies work really well within the track, but in its bid for artistry the lyrical issues begin to shine through. Armstrong begins to list his present participles with increasing intensity, the music behind him beginning to swell as he gets to failing, drowning, breaking then dying - the swelling to his most intense doing words feels as cliché as it is boring to listen to, and when the sea crashing noises return at the end of the track a snort is caught in the throat while remembering that experimentation with different lyrical styles is good and healthy for an artist.
Luckily, the next three tracks after this represent the highest quality chunk of this project, starting with 'Start the Flood'. The choppy guitars and live mix complement the vocal choices really well; the scream mixed in adds to the energy, and cringe lyrical choices such as "start the flood/cleanse the blood" are easy to ignore within the headbangabiity and earworm riffs. This is followed up by title track 'The Earth Will Swallow The Sun', where the experimentation works in the project’s favour. Lyrically, Armstrong simply chooses to shout “The Earth will swallow the Sun” over the top of himself and Murphy jamming with one another. There is some odd choices with adding monkey noises into the mix, but the organic feeling of this track conjures the feeling of sitting in a band practice with your friends messing around before real practice - it was “f*cking seamless”.
To make a highlight hat trick, it is followed by 'Lorraine in Blood', a sneaky character track embodying the blues influence that Noisepicker have cited for this project; the drums and melody are reminiscent of Henry Mancini’s 1963 Pink Panther theme tune while Armstrong spins a story for the listener of falling out of love, and perhaps even a murder. 'Lorraine in Blood' is wonderfully sinister in its explanation of love turning to hate, bookended with radio static to add to its finding the motive energy.
The outro to The Earth Will Swallow The Sun is called 'Lunatics', which feels counterintuitive with its slow tempo and passive feel - the purpose of having it is unclear, bar maintaining the previous track’s atmosphere for an extra couple of minutes, though when listened on repeat it does blend nicely into 'What You Deserve'. It could have not been there, or may have been better used as an intermission or placed before 'Lorraine in Blood' to give it a secret track feel.
Overall, The Earth Will Swallow The Sun bats average: if live mix classic rock is what you are looking for this will work for you. The riffs and drumwork were good, though the lyrics were spotty, and the forced husk of Harry Armstrong became more apparent as the project went on. Even with its praise, 'Lorraine in Blood' was slipping into blaccent territory with Armstrong’s homage to the blues, which left conflicting notes on completion of listening. This is a perfectly passable offering - not more, not less.
Score: 5/10
The Earth Will Swallow The Sun was released on March 21st 2025 via Exile on Mainstream.
Words: Julia Brunton
Photos: Noisepicker