Eagle Twin is an American

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band formed in Salt Lake City, Utah by singer/guitarist Gentry Densley and drummer Tyler Smith. Eagle Twin's music could be broadly classified as

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

, but also touches on

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, featuring lengthy instrumental passages and Densley's gruff, half-chanted vocals, which occasionally veer into

overtone singing Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, or diphonic singing, is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract to arouse the perception ...

Background

Unlike Gentry Densley's previous band Iceburn, which explored a fusion of punk rock, metal, jazz, classical music and free improvisation, Eagle Twin is more directly rooted in heavy metal traditions, particularly the focus upon the guitar

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

. When asked what shaped the Eagle Twin sound, Densley replied: Eagle Twin's debut album, ''The Unkindness of Crows'', was released in 2009 by

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It initially specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to ...

. A loose

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

presenting a

creation myth A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

based on folklore and mythology about

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

s, the album's liner notes state "We extend apologies for our shameless fleecing of dead poets, native myths, mormon hymns, japanese haikus,

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, and especially

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

." Hughes's 1970 collection ''

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

'' was a key inspiration for the album. Gentry Densley said: Critic Gregory Heaney of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gives the album four-out-of-five stars, writing, "While not necessarily for the masses, ''The Unkindness of Crows'' is a solid experience for anyone looking for something that plays with the oom/sludge metalgenre in an interesting, and powerfully noisy, way."Heaney, Gregory
"Eagle Twin - The Unkindness of Crows"

. Retrieved February 12, 2014. Critic Daren Cowan rates the album at seven out of ten: "Each track relates a dark, cerebral sound with psychedelic undertones ..Densley’s voice brings a unique aspect to the album. Due to the length of each track and the album’s plodding nature, ''The Unkindness of Crows'' requires a certain mood to digest, but should fit followers of Southern Lord’s classic catalogue quite well."Cowan, Darren
"Eagle Twin - The Unkindness of Crows (Southern Lord Records)"
. Blistering.com. Retrieved February 12, 2014. Their second album, ''The Feather Tipped The Serpent's Scale'', was released by Southern Lord on August 28, 2012. Densley said that the album differs from the band's debut in that it has a "more specific arc for the overall album and narrative. We ended up with the birds burning in their battle with the sun, turning into snakes. We wanted to eventually evolve the reptilian back to the avian in the end. To us it was just an extension of our previous methodology with more emphasis on transformation or progression".Dale, Lachlan (September 26, 2012)
"Interviews : Eagle Twin – 'things were getting pretty dark and low in our lives' (An interview with Gentry Densely)"

Metal Obsession
Retrieved February 12, 2014.

Line-Up

* Gentry Densley - vocals, guitars * Tyler Smith - drums

Discography

Albums

* ''The Unkindness of Crows'' (2009) * ''The Feather Tipped the Serpent's Scale'' (2012) * ''The Thundering Heard'' (2018)

Splits

* Split with Night Terror (2009) * Split with Pombagira (2010) * Legends Of The Desert: Vol. 4 with The Otolith (2024)

References

{{Authority control Southern Lord Records artists Heavy metal duos Heavy metal musical groups from Utah Musical groups from Salt Lake City Musical groups established in 2007 2007 establishments in Utah