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Bland music coupled with idol worship.-
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| Woods of Ypres: 4: The Green Album |
Depressive Rock, Melodic Black Metal
Earache Records
March 22nd, 2011
- Shards of Love (Hurt Forever) - 5:18
- Everything I Touch Turns to Gold (Then to Coal) - 5:03
- By the Time You Read This (I Will Already be Dead) - 6:30
- I Was Buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery- 7:58
- Into Exile: "Can You Get Here in 10 Days?" - 5:14
- Pining (For Your) - 8:15
- Wet Leather - 4:31
- Suicide Cargoload (Drag that Weight!) - 4:04
- Halves and Quarters - 2:25
- Retrosleep in the Morning Calm - 3:25
- Don't Open the Wounds/Skywide Armspread - 4:58
- Natural Technologies - 4:54
- Mirror Reflection & the Hammer Reinvention - 7:03
- Our Union (In Limbo) - 4:08
- Move On! (The Woman Will Always Leave the Man) - 3:01
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| Review Information |
Release length: 1:18:28
Review posted on March 21st, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 4/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
II: Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth (2004) | III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues (2007) | 4: The Green Album (2011)
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| EP(s): |
I: Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat (2002)
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| Single(s): |
Allure of the Earth (2009)
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| Compilation(s): |
Independent Nature 2002-2007 (2009)
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| Review |
Woods of Ypres is one of those rare bands in the Black Metal universe that manages to divide the fans into two specific factions, pitting fans against those who simply don't like the band. The Canadian group formed back in 2002, and only one founding member remains: David Gold. And it does make a noticable change in the music since the band first ventured out, and it shows on 4: The Green Album. This is also the first release to not be refered to in roman numerals such as "I" and "II" (1 and 2). Originally, the album was released in 2009 through Practical Art Records, but Earache Records is reissuing it in 2011 [along with the rest of the band's discography], though there's no new real changes to the source material. It's understandable how the lines for this band can be drawn so clearly with very few stradling the divider, but what is it that is so good, or so bad, that there's this little war going on in the Metal community about this notorious, yet not well established Melodic Black Metal act?
4: The Green Album is definitely not something the avid Black Metal fan would expect, especially given that it's meant to be a Melodic Black Metal song. The music here does carry some of the traditional Black Metal musical foundations, however it is greatly slowed down to a very depressing pace. With that slower pace comes a natural melancholic atmosphere to the recording that any general Black Metal fan, especially those of the Norse second wave acts, would quickly enjoy. However, that's about where all that ends with the Black Metal and it's impressive elements. The vocals are performed in a cleaner manner, but tupically in a deeper voice, lacking any energy unless they happen to go into the more sinister sounding Black Metal rhaspy style, though never really getting too high to be considered a wail or anything along those lines, just like a stern shout from the back of the throat almost. Due to the way the vocals are performed, it gives the music a vibe of influence from such acts as Type O Negative or even Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
There's no denying that there's some highly impressive material on this release. "By the Time You Read This (I Will Already be Dead)" nicely manages to take on the melancholic atmosphere and use it to make the song a little more intimate-sounding then other tracks on here, though the music is rather simple due to the slower pace. There's also "I Was Buried in Mouth Pleasant Cemetery", which feels like a more passionate song with a strong vocal performance, as well as has music that is just all around stronger then some tracks, though it does go into a slower, rather empty sounding passage for a good while about half way through that feels mournful and melancholic, but doesn't really have the substance to make it stand on it's own and takes away from the passionate, somewhat energetic performance that started the track off.
However, this album is far from perfect. Right off the bat, "Shards of Love" starts off the album with a show of love towards the Depressive Rock style, especially in the vein of modern Katatonia due to it's dark and somewhat stylish music that feels as if a departure from any Black Metal, and taking on that style entirely. The words are simple, coming off more as a brief summary of a breakup the author experienced, leading to a boring track lyrically as many of those words are just repeated back to back up to three times, leavng the main lyrics to sound very short and uninspired. Then, as stated before, the music goes into a strong Type O Negative performance on "Into Exile (Can You Get Here in 10 Days?)". This song also appears to be labeled wrong according to some sources on the internet, though it appears in the promo from Earache as "Dirty Window of Opportunity". Again, this track feels blended with the Depressive Rock sound of Katatonia, and does happen to feature a very impressive vocal performance with stronger, richer, fuller music that actually captures the melancholic atmosphere well, and actually puts it to good use outside of simple chords at a dismal pace that often seems to never end.
On top of that, practically every song seems to follow a rather specific pattern, or at least share many similarities between them. Plenty of songs move at a slow, almost Doom Metal pace, typically following the same structures of verse/chorus repeat, but also with an even slower section thrown in for good measure. Of course, some times it'll change by having a spoken word section that comes off more as an inspiration from Lifelover. And when the songs don't have that passionate feel to them, they just come off bland, though sometimes are accompanied by the harsher vocal style mentioned earlier, or a deeper second layer that stands out clear behind it and creates a very odd sound of vocals that are harmonized nicely, but just slightly different pitches that becomes a little obnoxious. After your first spin though, that vocal layering issue does start to become something you won't really notice so much, and proves to be more an acquired taste. Although some original sounding cuts do still exist, such as "Wet Leather", which is a very upbeat track that brings thoughts of later Carcass with a more Type O Negative approach, enhanced nicely by the tamborine that appears, but for the most part the vocals are the deeper monotone style that is rather unimpressive with some of the commanding shouted vocals in the background during the chorus. "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight!) also stands out for it's prodominantly heavier sound that takes things back to the more Black Metal roots a bit with shouting vocals to start the track off, then eventually invorporating the clean singing a little less then half way through. "Natural Technologies", however, takes those same ideas from "Suicide Cargoload" and doesn't drop off at all, retaining that cryshing and heavy atmosphere, taking on a kind of Opeth sound to the mix. For fans of the heavier side of Woods of Ypres there's a few other songs like these that break up the monotone slower tracks and really give the album some more substance.
There does sometimes seem to be a common thread linking soem of the tracks together, though many don't quite fit that conceptual idea of the album, or at least do and are scattered about leaving the listener to figure out the order. Songs like "Shards of Love" has the same kind of atmosphere and lyrical approach of a loved one no longer being actively present in the writer's life. The same can be said for a number of other tracks like "By the Time You Read This" and "Retrosleep in the Morning Calm". Sadly, many of these "conceptual" sounding pieces really just come off whiny and insane uninspirational, though the lyrics are a little more creative then some bands who write about these topics. Other then that, the more energetic songs really steal the show, but those are so few and far between, and even you do get to one, there's no way of guaranteeing it'll be that enjoyable. "Don't Open the Wounds/Skywide Armspread" goes between a stronger Type O Negative influence with a more energetic presentation to it, but it goes into somber moments that really just aren't that entertaining and sound exasctly like what has been hear on half the songs, if not more, that came before it. This all leads to the complication that, while having a nearly eighty minute long CD is a fantastic idea that gives the listener more bang for his or her buck, it becomes a problem when a good amount of the material sounds like every other song, sounds like something you heard before, or ultimately sounds like filler with only a small handful of actually enjoyable tracks.
4: The Green Album is certainly not for everyone. The album nicely manages to catch the depressive and melancholic atmospheres well, and the heavier Melodic Black Metal tracks on here, what few there are, definitely stand as a testament to the edgier sound the band can bring to the recording. However, the vocals come off as monotone when it's anything but heavy and winds up incorporating singing. The music is far from original, and often isn't even that good, coming off feeling empty with bland song writing. t's obvious on some of the musical ideas incorporated here, as the similarities are rather astounding, and while that isn't the worst thing, it doesn't necessarily help the act out either. Woods of Ypres has the talent to compose some great music, but this lust towards a Depressive Rock and even a heavily simplistic Doom Metal sound is a good idea, but it lacks essence. It often feels melancholic, but at the same time that depressive sound is more depressive as in how you feel for wasting money on this release. Woods of Ypres isn't necessarily a bad band, but 4: The Green Album is definitely a bad release with talent buries so far underneath bland writing that outside a few key songs, it's almost impossible to find.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Earache Records.
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