Earthtone9 (stylized earthtone9) is an English metal band from Nottingham, England. History Signing to Copro Records in 1998, the band's first major release was the album lo-def(inition) discord, which comprised songs from their three demos with a few new tracks. The record was produced on a budget of £500. Their harshest and noisiest recording, it quickly grabbed the attention of the British rock press, with favourable reviews in Terrorizer and Metal Hammer and a five-star rating in mainstream modern rock magazine Kerrang!. After extensive touring, ...Discord was followed in 1999 by Off Kilter Enhancement. Again it was a critical success, but commercial recognition was limited. The band had more time and money to play with this time, and it is here that the classic et9 sound crystallised – harsh metal inspired by Helmet and Neurosis, mixed with softer textured moments, with Tool-esque dynamics and arrangements, not to mention enigmatic song titles and lyrics (e.g. "Möe=ra (t-talk)", "i nagual eye"). Barely a year later, after the departure of original bassist Graeme Watts, who was replaced by David Anderson, the band delivered their third album – voted 16th best album of 2000 by Metal Hammer – arc'tan'gent. It was described by the band as the first record they were truly happy with, having for the first time not been rushed in the recording process. During a break in touring and rehearsing following the release of arc'tan'gent, Karl Middleton briefly entered the studio to lay down additional vocals on a song called 'unhinged' by the rising post hardcore UK band Landmine Spring. The song featured on their first full-length album Elephantine, which was released in 2001 via Loudspeaker records, and also lead to Landmine Spring playing on Earthtone9's autumn tour. Apart from some minor distribution of their existing material, attempts at an American record deal failed. The band announced their dissolution in early 2002. After their farewell tour, their rejected demo saw release as the Omega EP. In 2004, hi-point (rem), which was a remastered version of 2000's first EP hi-point, was released. Post break-up All members continued to play in bands – notably, Karl Middleton joined hardcore supergroup The Blueprint. Furthermore, Karl Middleton and Simon Hutchby are now in Twin Zero, and Middleton is also in the Brighton-based band 'Blackstorm', as well as providing guest vocals on "Alpha Signal Three", a track on second album Very Fast Very Dangerous by British rock