Not to steal the thunder of the excellent new Woods album, but most of the discussion regarding POTSAOTE was on the 'old' board and is gone.
Just thought I'd print what I find to be the best review out there of "Pursuit..", written by (and posted here with his consent) Tate Bengston and published in Issue #25 (red-hued Mastodon/Neurosis cover) of Unrestrained!. Click here for more info on the mag:
http://www.unrestrainedmag.com/.
That particular issue also contained a full page article/interview with DG.
Anyhow, I remember reading this review after plowing through the album multiple times, and thinking, "Yeah. Yeah! YEAH!". It's nice to see such an eloquent review for such a meaty piece of music. Also note the score...
If you haven't seen it, enjoy.
Quote:
WOODS OF YPRES
Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth
Krankenhaus Records (
http://www.woodsofypres.ca)
“Cold” and “frostbitten” are adjectives commonly associated with black metal, and justly so; the music lends itself to the representation of subzero, inhospitable landscapes. So what happens when an artist crafts a black metal album oriented around the summer season? It is a challenge that Woods of Ypres answers in a most striking fashion. And no, the result is not beachparty black metal. Mainman David Gold seeks to explore summer as a season of sweltering hot days and marginally cooler nights, a season where the new life of spring is mercilessly drained of its color by the very sun that once nurtured it. With songwriting that is intricate and finely crafted, Woods of Ypres blends nostalgic/melancholic passages with eruptions of black metal that are imbued with a folky melody. The songs possess a fluid structure based less upon the tools of the trade and more upon an innate feeling for what works and how it needs to be arranged. Gold’s nuanced compositions are in the same league as Morningrise-era Opeth and Bergtatt-era Ulver; scripted with uncontrived drama, expressing the interior of being in all of its conflicted diversity, and inviting the audience ever deeper into the labyrinthine passages of despair, longing, anger, and contemplation that comprises the essence of the band. A variety of techniques are at Gold’s disposal, including radiant-yet-somber clean singing, acoustic guitar plucking, and barrages of blackened metallic rage that are furious and ferocious in equal measure. On paper, Woods of Ypres is perhaps not altogether distinct from its peers, for other bands do in fact employ much the same techniques. What makes Woods of Ypres distinct is in the clarity of its ideas and, even more importantly, in their arrangement into a fluid tapestry of sound that evokes a wide range of emotion while constantly tantalizing the senses. Written on a piece of paper accompanying my copy of Pursuit of the Sun… was a note from Mr. Gold. It included a politely worded request: “For best results, please let your first listen to be from beginning to end for the full effect.” The magic of the album, as the artist recognizes and as the audience is quick to realize, is in how it resonates as a complete piece, as a musical narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, each part a vital piece of the whole that cannot – and must not – be omitted. Clear a place beside Morningrise, Bergtatt, Light of Day, Day of Darkness and The Mantle, for Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth rightfully deserves a position in that hallowed pantheon. <Tate Bengtson> 10
