So if you didn't know already, I absolutely love the German band Ahab. These doom masters blow me away with every listen and know how to craft evocative, thoughtful, well-done music. I realize that they could just easily be a part of the normal doom metal thread, but I'll try to keep this updated with info, interviews, news, links, etc.
The band formed in the early 2000's after having been a part of several different bands. Basing all of their lyrics and music around the sea and novels about the sea, they are one of the most inspired-by-literature metal bands out there and have inspired a dedicated following by fans around the world.
I plan on doing a full discography run-through in the future, so that should be fun.
Ahab at Rockharz Open Air 2018
Discography:
'The Stream' (single; 2004)
The Oath (demo; 2005) The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006) The Divinity of Oceans (2009) The Giant (2012) The Boats of the Glen Carrig (2015)
@Perun (and anyone else who's interested).
Have you heard of Ahab? Doom from Germany. They were recently recommended to me by a friend. Their debut album from 2006, called The Call of the Wretched Sea, is inspired by Herman Melvilles 'Moby Dick'.
A review by Matt Solis (from Decibel Magazine):
The ocean is goddamn terrifying - it covers more than 70 percent of the planet, yet 95 percent of it remains uncharted. Judging by those numbrs, it seems likely that there's a hideous beast hiding somewhere in its depths right now, waiting for the perfect moment to rise from its watery tomb and crush humanity under its reeking tentacles. And when it does, The Call of the Wretched Sea will be the perfect soundtrack.
Ahab may not have intended to create a new subgenre [nautical funeral doom, if you're keeping track] when they released their debut LP in 2006, but by combining the awesome power and glacial pace of funeral doom with watery keyboards, cavernous production and Moby Dick-inspired lyrics, they essentially did just that. Songs like "Below the Sun" and "The Sermon" crush like the atmospheric pressure in the Mariana Trench. Daniel Droste's eerie, reverb-drenched guitar melodies swirl on top of Pequod-sized riffs. The entire album sounds like you're being dragged to the bottom of the ocean by a gargantuan monster from beyond the stars. Listen inside a diving bell for maximum effect.
- - - - - - -
From a 2006 interview:
Which kind of band did influence your sound ? Do you take inspiration from cult bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram, St Vitus or do you prefer bands who play the same kind of doom like you : Shape of Despair, Pantheist ?
Our main source of inspiration to compose The Call Of The Wretched Sea was Melvilles novel of course. We just tried to set the words to music to compose our own dark soundtrack to the story. The Call is a concept album which is lyrically based on Moby Dick. We didnt want to retell the story our aim was to use some chapters of the book to set the words to music and to deliver this dark and gloomy atmosphere of the story that we experienced during reading it. Of course there are also some bands which inspired me a lot. Especially My Dying Bride and old Anathema influenced me a lot and their cds are still among my all time favourites today.
- - - -
What do I think of it myself? Well, I must confess that the first listening took a bit too much of my patience. It is slow stuff, and it takes a while before a song is really "starting/going", so to speak. But the atmosphere is quite something, so when I let that in, I really like it. An intriguing soundtrack indeed.
Back in January of 2015, @Perun posted of a band called Ahab that piqued my interests. I listened to their first album a few times and liked it, but I wanted to get to know the source material better. I wasn't working at the time and was finishing up my senior year of high school; I decided to check out the book from the school library. Read through it, checked out the book from a library in my hometown of Bloomingdale, MI while I was up there in the summer and read through it. I eventually bought the book back in October, but didn't read it. I received a Kindle as a gift for Christmas and the first thing I did was buy Moby Dick .
Hey, funnily enough, without reading your post I discovered them today! And it's absolutely awesome. I have probably never heard funeral doom done better.
New rehearsal room demands new songs and a new novel. We‘ll once again dive deep into the divinity of oceans. Or, as the most iconic character of this said novel would put it: „The sea supplies all my wants.“ (Link)
Is Ahab writing an album based on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea? That's one I always thought it would be interesting to hear their take on. It would also be the only novel besides Moby-Dick that I'd have read besides just listening to the album.
At any rate, I'm hyped. They also posted this little clip which I think is a new song... hopefully at any rate.
'The Stream' (single; 2004)
Ahab's debut song is a rather interesting one. It's their only song (discounting "Outro" from The Oath which we'll get to later) that was never released on an official album, and as such, it becomes a really neat period piece for the early part of the band. All of the elements that will be present on The Call of the Wretched Sea are right here, boiled down to their most basic and simplistic form. The production has yet to be mastered but it works well with what we've got.
The song itself is... actually really good. I enjoy it a lot. For its 12 minute runtime it sure goes by fast; I was rather surprised it was over. Wouldn't have minded another ten minutes if given the chance... Anyway, it's one of their most drawn-out tracks honestly, with some riffs that seem to go on forever, but I like said, I enjoy it. Droste's growl is already huge here, the guitars sound great, and the drumming is good but not mixed well enough to be as mind-blowing as they will become on The Call of the Wretched Sea. Less variation than in songs to come, but it's still really strong overall.
Ultimately, this is a very strong way to start off the band's career. Ahab knew what they were going for from day 1 and already had ideas that would connect together to form some of funeral doom's most enticing content ever. The trademark Ahab atmosphere is already on full display here, and it wouldn't take long before they annihilated the competition for good.
Great interview with the band from last year. It’s always enjoyable seeing them together and there’s a really, really nice live recording of “Below the Sun” - possibly the best I’ve seen yet - stapled to the back half of the video. Well worth a watch!
Maybe I'll check out that debut again. I haven't heard it in ages. I remember during the last run through I did of it I got a bit bored. Thanks for the thread though, very detailed.
Maybe I'll check out that debut again. I haven't heard it in ages. I remember during the last run through I did of it I got a bit bored. Thanks for the thread though, very detailed.
I look forward to hearing what you make of it. If you think it may be boring again though, maybe spruce it up with one of the other albums, or just listen to The Oath demo? There's a lot of variation on their later works, and The Oath has a much shorter tracklist so you'd be able to keep the attention better. But it's all up to you!
Background Info:
Released in 2005, this antique piece of Ahab lore was initially limited to 30 copies in CD form but was re-released in 2007 on 12" vinyl to 150 copies. It features only two of the band's members on the album - Daniel Droste does the vocals and keyboarding and shares the drum programming and guitar playing duties with Christian Hector. The tracklist is composed of two songs that would become a part of The Call of the Wretched Sea, "The Stream", and an outro that is unique to this release.
The Songs:
I always find it interesting that the song that closes The Call of the Wretched Sea is the opener of The Oath. For the most part, "Ahab's Oath" is the same as on TCOTWS, but the production is noticeably not as good and they are some other differences one can detect when listening to it.
"Ahab's Oath" ends kind of suddenly, which is fine IMO, but took a while to get used to. Thus it's interesting hearing another song come in after it. The thing that's always been confusing for me on TCOTWS is how different the guitar sound is on the last two tracks. While the preceding four have a lot of crunch to them, "The Hunt" and "Ahab's Oath" utilize more of a drone / hum kinda thing which I like but always wondered why it was. In fact, I've often theorized that they just took the two from this demo without changing and stuck them onto the album. But hearing The Oath again, I think it's clear that they changed up some stuff. Parts of the growling sound a little bit different than on the album and the production is definitely much worse here. Drums are also different on the album. Still, both songs are good and effective and work well here. I'll speak on them in more depth when I go through The Call of the Wretched Sea.
"The Stream" is essentially the same as it was on the debut single, but it's ten seconds longer which leads me to suspect that this is either a re-recording or simply the space between the tracks adding to its runtime. Overall there's nothing new here that wasn't there on the single already.
"Outro" is a cool piece, though. Some great keyboard stuff happening here and it's a tremendously atmospheric track all-told. A great way to close off the demo and, as it's unique to this release, it makes The Oath even more special.
Overall:
The Oath has never been something I come back to a lot. Usually I just listen to "The Stream" by itself and "The Hunt" and "Ahab's Oath" within the context of The Call of the Wretched Sea. That being said, this is a fairly good release nonetheless, even if it doesn't foreshadow the monstrousness of the album it was leading to. One thing to note is that Ahab have always used the "funeral doom" handle loosely, and the "nautik doom" handle fully. Their releases have a lot of funeral doom elements but often don't quite fit within the confines of the genre. This release, however, is pretty much 99% pure funeral doom. There are parallels to be drawn with other bands of the genre and thus it's almost hard to imagine that this band would burst forth suddenly and become one of the genre's leading acts.
As a whole, this is pretty strong but not quite as good as what would come next. The two TCOTWS tracks are better on that album than on here, and "The Stream" and "Outro" can be listened to separately just as well, but anytime I do give The Oath a listen, I don't regret it. It's a dark, atmospheric relic of old Ahab, and if you can find it somewhere, I highly recommend you buy it, as it is well worth the money. Give it a spin, but I recommend doing it after listening to Ahab's actual albums.
Background Info:
Ahab's debut album is a reinterpretation of Herman Melville's classic novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. A lot of the lyrics are even taken straight out of the novel. While Mastodon also released an album based on the novel (Leviathan), Ahab did it in a completely different and arguably better way. They use a lot of funeral doom mixed with clearer elements to invoke the sea and bring to life the bleakness of the novel. They succeeded very well - The Call of the Wretched Sea is widely considered one of the genre's finest releases and is one of the best gateway albums to funeral doom.
The lineup for this album is really very interesting. Daniel Droste handles vocals (or voices, as my vinyl edition says), synths, and shares guitar duties with Christian Hector. Stephen Adolf handles the bass and "background voices". Meanwhile, Cornelius "Corny" Althammer is credited as a "session and live drummer" on this release. This has always felt, to me, to be one of the funniest credits on any album. Althammer's drumming on here would become praised by just about every reviewer, and indeed, he's appeared on every single release since and is one of the band's most prominent members. Conversely, this would be Stephen Adolf's only album with the band, as he left two years later in 2008. Crazy how things happen like that.
Speaking of vinyls, The Call of the Wretched Sea was originally released on CD on September 29, 2006. In 2007, it was released on vinyl as a limited edition (Ahab release their vinyls in waves, every few years or so). The tracklisting was as follows:
Side A
Below The Sun
The Pacific
Side B
Old Thunder
Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales
The Sermon
Side C
The Hunt
Ahab's Oath
Side D was left blank, and the three tracks in the middle were segued into each other, just like they are on CD. However, in the vinyl reprinting from 2012 - and all vinyls going forward, might I add, as mine has this tracklisting as well - the songs were arranged like this:
Side A
Below The Sun
The Pacific
Side B
Old Thunder
Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales
Side C
The Sermon
Side D
The Hunt
Ahab's Oath
It's just an interesting thing to note, really. Using all four sides of the two vinyls is an executive decision which does unfortunately break apart the three middle songs, but it's just one of those casualties that comes of releasing albums on vinyl. Personally, I don't even care - I've been listening to the songs broken up via YouTube playlists anyway.
Ahab have played The Call of the Wretched Sea in full on a few special occasions.
The cover painting is by an artist named Kinuko Y. Craft. Ahab contacted her directly for permission to use the artwork on their album, which she graciously gave to them. The painting is called Moby-Dick and is a gorgeous piece of artwork and a great cover for the album.
Only one I could find from the period - nice live picture of Droste ripping forth.
The Songs:
"Below The Sun"
The album begins with some really eerie, atmospheric keyboard that sets the tone of the entire thing and is the perfect way to begin this sort of album. It's haunting, and works well as build-up. It lasts for almost two minutes, and then guitars, drums, bass, and Droste burst forth in unison and attack the listener's eardrums. The moment everything explodes, you can tell that this is a much better release than the previous two. Ahab have honed together, worked on their sound more, and crafted together something that can and will stand the test of time. "Below The Sun" is the perfect opener for such an album and one of doom metal's greatest tracks.
The first riff here is slow, drawn out, lengthy, but damn if it isn't fantastic. Moody, atmospheric, it continues where the opening keyboard left off and perfectly captures the mood of the entire album and is one of the finest moments on the entire thing. It lasts for about two and a half minutes before the song changes up a bit and starts moving forward. In your mind you can feel the ship heading on further into the open ocean in search of its deadly quest.
A minute later and the song changes directions again to a huge riff with a lot of crunch, feel, and texture to it. Drums sound fantastic. Droste is showcasing his growling prowess fully here. Hector and Droste are some really great riff lords and showcase how well they can work together with the slower stuff. Althammer and Adolf hammer behind them with great bass / drum coordination and it's a heavy, beating moments, blasting forth underneath the sun as the Pequod moves forward.
After about three minutes, the song slows down to a crawl and progresses with periodic drumming and guitar, while Droste's vocals keep moving, slower and deeper and it all works together extremely well. The lyrics to this whole thing are fantastic as well (if you can make them out, that is). After another two minutes the song heads into its final movement with some really nice melodic lead guitar taking centerstage and bringing it forward to a close. It may be nearly twelve minutes long, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like three. This is a perfect opening to a perfect album.
I turn my body from the sun
To follow the fading phantom into the deep
All collapsed
And the great shroud of the sea
Rolled on as it rolled thousands of years ago
Your malice is my vengeance
Pull me, into deep
My body - drowned
But my hate is immortal
Dark and silent
Deeper, darker
Below the surface
Below the sun
Ghost of the sea
I am God's assassin
My lifeless eyes
My tortured soul
I grin at the ocean, thou grinning whale
Dark and silent... deep
My body - drowned
But my hate is immortal
Ghost of the sea
I am God's assassin
My lifeless eyes
Deep
"The Pacific"
Didn't think that Cornelius Althammer was a drum god yet, did you? Well here's a monstrous drum opening just to prove it! Slow drum beats set the song on course before Corny does a kick thing which I really like, prompting the band to come in. After a bit of drumming and riffing, keyboard comes in, and then motion gets going as Droste comes in and growls about the ocean. In text it sounds less than enthusiastic, but believe me, it's fucking awesome listening to it.
Nearly four minutes pass before anything changes, but no matters, 'cuz this is really great. When it does, things only continue to get heavier. At the five minute mark, clean guitars come in and things get quiet. You can see the sparkling water below before it all erupts into a heavy piece again. This section of the song is melodic but has a lot of depth to it, as Droste keeps up his growling and the band continues to storm forward. This all climaxes with a near scream into the air. As the heavy guitars drop out and only the lead is left.
At this point, the song changes directions somewhat and plods forward, at first with clean / growled spoken lyrics before Droste comes back with his growl on "spout... thick... blood." Repeat that line for the rest of the album. It's a really nice piece from the perspective of Captain Ahab himself calling up the ocean to offer up Moby Dick to him so that he can finally kill the damn whale. An awesome song and one of Althammer's best drum performances ever. Great way to continue the momentum left off from the opening track.
Oh, ye great mysterious - Thousand leagues of blue
No one knows which mysteries are hidden
Beneath your surface
Your awful stirrings seem to speak of some
hidden soul beneath
The waves rise and fall
Millions of mixed shades and shadows
Lie dreaming and silent
All what we call lives and souls
Lie dreaming... Silent... Dreaming...
All what we call lives and souls
The ever rolling waves
Restless one
All what we call lives and souls
Lie dreaming
Oh, restless one
Your tide, the beating beast of earth
Oh, ye great mysterious shepherd of waves
Offer me your secrets
So he shall spout thick blood
"Old Thunder"
The third song on the album opens with some of the heaviest clean guitar you'll ever hear, before Althammer jumps in with his heavy-as-fuck drumming again. It's a really epic way to open the track and continues for nearly two minutes before distortion in the form of heavy stroking comes in. Then Droste lets loose with a fucking fantastic verse that is one of the finest in Ahab's entire discography. A repeat and then we hit heavy riffing again. You can feel the harpoon boats out upon the ocean waves heading towards the whales. Then we hit another growling moment before things calm down for a bit.
The music seems to collect itself in a valley here before bursting forth a little slower but just as heavily. After a bit, clean(er) singing comes forth as our narrators sing about the Captain himself - Ahab, the titular "Old Thunder". Then Droste comes back with those growls and the song builds and builds - hold that thought, another round in the verse must be attained before we can reach climax. And what a climax it is. Droste's screaming of "END!" thrice is one of the album's finest moments and is a surprisingly passionate, enthusiastic, emotional bit. Then pure clean vocals come back and add to the mix well.
After this, with two and a half minutes left to go, the song heads into its final movement as steady riffing brings us to the same verses from the beginning of the song, only abridged this time. Then the song moves toward the ending with some great steady riffing and drumming. The final bit is one of Ahab's best "headbanging" movements. I can't recall ever not moving my head with this beat-down. "Old Thunder" is the shortest true song on the album and the only one that's under ten minutes, but it's also probably the band's most accessible and one of their finest creations as well. Really awesome stuff.
Ahab:
"Look sharp, marines!"
"Dead whale or sunk boat!"
"Hunt him 'til he spouts black blood"
"And rolls fin up!"
Old Thunder ye once was called,
Fullfill the prophecy
All but one shall be entombed
In the deep gulf of doom
Beware the white demon
Beware the blasphemous end
(Ahab: "I am Ahab!"
"I am the prophet and the fulfiller!"
"Who's over me?"
"So be it!")
"Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales"
This "interludium", as it's called on the album, is a near two minute bridge between the first half of the record and the second half. Short but evocative and atmospheric, it's an essential part of the whole and is a really great piece to kind of get your thoughts together after the previous three songs and before the monster that is "The Sermon" hits your eardrums. I think I read somewhere that it's made either by whale calls or to sound like them. Either way, it's really damn good.
"The Sermon"
The album's longest song begins directly where the interludium leaves off before crashing in with heavy guitars, deep growls, and huge drum beats. This continues for over a minute before the song really starts and we enter a really awesome piece with a really, really cool riff driving us forward. Droste comes in with his growls again, and if you read Moby-Dick, you'll notice that lyrics are taken directly from the hymn sung at the whaling chapel. After a brief change-up, we come back to the riff and Droste's growls. This is another big headbanging moment, honestly, and it's hard not to bop up and down.
The song sort of irons itself out a little bit as it moves forward at a steady, monumental pace, before someone says "Moby Dick..." and we're back in that really cool riff. I'd say that it's the closest the entire album gets to being a normal song, but even then it's far removed from, say, Iron Maiden or what-have-you. Finally, at the five and a half minute mark, we leave the riff behind for good and move into a quiet bit with a lot of wave and wind noises, soaring, atmospheric keyboard, and audio bits taken directly from the 1956 Moby Dick film. It's a piece reminiscent of Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and it adds to the song's epicness. And it really is epic, easily the most on the entire album.
Finally - "It's the White Whale, I say." Suddenly it erupts into a roar as instruments come back in steadily and Droste roars with all his power. Then it progresses forward into more of the hymn and continues to be heavy as all fuck. After this, the song really slows to a crawl as riffing and drumming become more sporadic, but keyboard comes up to lead this atmospheric piece. Droste continues to descend deeper into his chasm of death growls. After this, he comes back with clean vocals to add to the atmosphere already on full display here. The song finally comes to a close as Droste growls out, "Nevermore!". A chorus of voice end the album's longest and most epic piece. It's a literal leviathan.
The ribs and terrors in the whale
Arched over me a dismal doom
While all God's sun-lit waves rolled by
And lift me deepening down to doom
I saw the opening maw of hell
With endless pains and sorrows there
Which none but they that feel can tell
Oh I was plunging to despair
In black distress, I called my God
When I could scarce believe him mine
He bowed his ears to my complaint
No more the whale did me confine
With speed he flew to my relief
As on a radiant dolphin borne
Awful, yet bright, as lightning shone
The face of my deliverer God
My song forever shall record
That terrible, that joyful hour
I give the glory to my God
His all the mercy and the power
Ahab: "Nevermore!"
"The Hunt"
And so we arrive at Side D (on my vinyl) with the first of the two songs originally released on The Oath. "The Hunt" opens with a really nice, moody bit of clean guitar that sets it in motion for the rest of the song. Then the guitars come in, and while they've been polished up since we last heard them, they're still more of a droning hum than the crunch the previous tracks had. Interesting stuff. Clean vocals seem to rise up from the waves and describe the Pequod awaiting Moby Dick's sighting. Sporadic drumming keep things moving.
Things calm down for a moment. "Screams from the lookout..." Then suddenly - "WHALE AHEAD!" Droste's shout is an absolute masterpiece of a line and one of the album's best moments. We move forward with Ahab declaring that he wants this whale, he wants it dead. The song then moves into a bit with a steadier drum beat as keyboards rise up and lead through a piece which - while still feeling very invoking of the sea - could also have been used an a funeral doom album about ancient Egypt and the gods and stuff. That's how it's always struck me, at least. Then things head into a crawl as Droste keeps growling, guitar strokes have slowed, and drumming does as well. It's a very drawn-out bit. An Exorcist-kinda bit of either guitar or keyboard pops up as it progresses forward. Then some lead guitar comes up out of the waves and leads into the final movement, as they soar above the dim and dismal waves below.
Whale hunts are supposed to be exciting affairs, now? Somehow, Ahab manage to make this hunt the exact opposite. The song is bleak, slow, steady, and dark. Not exciting in the least; rather, it's an ominous bit about how terrifying one may be feeling inside as they plunge into certain death. Certain pieces of the song seem to last forever, but that only adds to its greatness.
Flat and silent the ocean lies
Pequod's captured in a lull
No gentle breeze blows in the sails
Heated by a salty carpet from above
The crew's emaciated, survival tough
Giant billows bear a mighty whiteness
Screams from the lookout: Whale ahead!
I want this whale, I want it dead!
Hysteria on upper deck
Rabid flames in Ahab's eyes
Hustle and bustle, drag and pull
Panic affects the whaler's moves
Fire!
The harpoon slashes the water's surface
Diving into darkness - the prey escapes
Swallowed by the sea
Starboard lies calm
Portside full of wrath
Possessed by unhuman anger
The heart brawly pumps the blood
Through the marionette of rage
Ahab's visage runs red
I want this whale, I want it dead
A fin erupts from the abyss
Proudly undulates the flesh
Reaches bright horizons inviolable, manorial
An arrow loosens
...and spirit's away
"Ahab's Oath"
The album's final track opens with some very atmospheric keyboard and some slow and heavy drum beats that help make it the bleakest song on the entire album. Keyboard builds higher and drum beats grow steadier after about a minute, before guitars finally make their appearance and Droste shows us that, once again, his growling skills are deeper than hell itself. It's a steady song to say the least. Droste continues to growl on about killing the White Whale and the listener is dragged along. (Fun fact: This is the only song to explicitly mention Moby Dick in the lyrics. "The Sermon" does too, but only via an audio bit.)
Growling ceases for a bit as guitars drone on, but they appear again soon enough. After a moment the keyboards come back into prominence and all I can see is the grayest fucking harbor ever - run-down, abandoned, rusting. Oh, but this takes place on the open ocean, right? Droste comes back with a shout and the song plods steadily forward. Growls are deeper than they've been on the entire album.
The song moves into its final movement as Droste as Ahab urges us to drink and swear death to Moby Dick. God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death... Drumming starts to kick up and the song crashes slowly forward until Droste lets out a final scream and slowly everything grows silent. The album ends on the bleakest, most depressing note possible, and the Pequod sails onward, forward into the abyss...
Now three to three ye stand
Commend the murderous chalices!
Bestow them, ye who now are made
parties to this indissoluble league
Drink ye harpooners
Drink and swear, ye men that man
the deathful whaleboat's bow
Death to Moby Dick
God hunt us all, if we do not
hunt Moby Dick to his death
Overall: The Call of the Wretched Sea is, in my mind, without a doubt, one of the greatest albums to ever exist. Its only rival is Bruce Dickinson's The Chemical Wedding, and both could easily take my top spot. I don't even remember how I first heard of this album, but it intrigued me greatly. It took some building up for myself before I could listen to the full thing, but I came back to it again and again. There was just something so mesmerizing about it. I couldn't stop listening to it. It was insane. It was god. It was man. It was all. It was a call, a call for me to partake in the wretched sea.
Masterpiece doesn't even begin to describe this album. It is a tour-de-force by a band that would move forward with time, but left a monumental album for all those who wish to partake in it. Needless to say, I love this album.
Great interview from 2007 that works well to give a look into the band at that point in time. Chris and Corny still have their hair (so does Droste, and I hope he never gets it cut!). It's in German though; sorry to non-speakers, I can't find anything in English.
Yet Another Raft of the Medusa (Pollard's Weakness) (12:40)
The Divinity of Oceans (11:03)
O Father Sea (7:07)
Redemption Lost (10:25)
Tombstone Carousal (7:27)
Gnawing Bones (Coffin's Lot) (10:48)
Nickerson's Theme (8:06)
Background Info:
Three years after the release of The Call of the Wretched Sea, Ahab returned with another studio effort in the form of The Divinity of Oceans. This time, the band sought inspiration from the real-life tale of the Essex, a whaleship sunk in 1820 and lead to a horrific fight for survival. In 1821, Owen Chase, one of the men who did indeed survive the sinking, wrote a narrative of the disaster, which would become one of the inspirations of Moby-Dick. In other words, Ahab essentially did some backtracking here. The result was an album that, for some, couldn't compete with its predecessor, but for others managed to top it.
What's quite noticeable with The Divinity of Oceans is that Ahab were evolving their sound quite a bit. Something like "The Stream" is very far detached from this release, as the band decided to incorporate more melodies, more calmer parts, and a dash of more clean vocals as well. It's an interesting listen, to say the least. One other thing to note is that while The Call of the Wretched Sea featured nothing but songs that were ten minutes or longer (bar "Old Thunder", but it's only six seconds off), this album includes some that dive under the mark. However, it also doesn't feature an interludium like the previous one does, which explains how its runtime is nearly the same as TCOTWS's.
Ahab's classic line-up has finally become cemented, by the way. Droste and Hector still do the guitarwork and Droste is still singing, but Althammer is finally an official member of the band on this release. Also, with the loss of bassist Stephan Adolph one year before, another Stephan joins the band on that instrument - Stephan Wandernoth, to be exact. This lineup will remain intact throughout the band's career and right up to this date (as far as I'm aware).
The vinyl tracklists are the same in every copy. It is as follows:
Side A
Yet Another Raft of the Medusa (Pollard's Weakness)
Side B
The Divinity of Oceans
O Father Sea
Side C
Redemption Lost
Tombstone Carousal
Side D
Gnawing Bones (Coffin's Lot)
Nickerson's Theme
Like with TCOTWS, this album's cover art is also not an Ahab original. This one is an iconic oil painting called Le Radeau de la Méduse, or The Raft of the Medusa, by the French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault. It is another great choice for an Ahab album as it perfectly embodies the story the band tell with the music.
From left to right in both of the above pics: Wandernoth - Droste - Althammer - Hector
From left to right: Wandernoth - Droste - Hector - Althammer
The Songs:
"Yet Another Raft of the Medusa (Pollard's Weakness)"
The longest Ahab song up to this point in time opens with a very nice clear guitar bit which sets the course of the tale about to unfold. After about two minutes of this idle, dreamy, watery piece, heavy, distorted guitars come in, but the melody remains. The production is clearly different from that of the previous album, but that's not to say that either album has bad production. Droste's growls come in, but also sound different on this album. They're more guttural but less deep, to my ears. It used to drive me nuts but I've come to appreciate them for what they are. At any rate, this song is a slow burn but a good one nonetheless.
There's a lot of nice pieces to this one. After the five minute mark, Droste comes in with clean, atmospheric vocals. They sound a little different from those on the previous album, but I put that down to the production. After about seven minutes, the song finally changes direction with some rapid drum beats turning the tide. After about a minute and a half, Droste comes back with uber-deep growls that invoke even more of the doom here. The guitar gets even waterier. Then the song goes into another interesting bit as Droste seems to be shouting above the waves.
The song goes back to being a crushing monster after this, but then goes into a quieter, dreamier piece around the eleven minute mark. This brings us to the end of the song, which is, in my opinion, one of Ahab's greats and a perfect way to open up this record.
Alas! The Marquesas!
Shun the beck'ning land!
Choose the open sea instead
To whatever end!
Took down to wondrous depths
Sullen we did go
Where shapes of unwarped primal
Gliding to and fro
Father! Willst thou pity
If dry're freshest cuts
If eyelids crack - mummified
Without trace of blood
Lord, why would thou leave us so misled?
How many warm hearts would cease to beat
In the consequence of it?
"The Divinity of Oceans"
The album's second song and title track opens up directly with a huge, heavy, thunderous plod that beats into the listener's eardrum harder and harder with every second. Droste comes in after a minute with his growls, describing the destruction of the whale on the Essex. Althammer utilizes double bass in certain parts here, which is a weird choice for an Ahab song, but it's not a bad one. You can clearly see the ship collapsing in front of you. At the three minute mark, the song goes quiet except for some clean guitar. Quiet drums come in with Droste's clean, atmospheric vocals. It's a quiet moment in the midst of chaos.
One thing to note about the album - the vocals are much clearer and lyrics are more easily discerned. And what lyrics they are! With this release, Ahab truly showcased how great they are at poetry, in my opinion. Forget that this is doom metal, they are fantastic in print, too. Just give them a read, you won't be disappointed.
After a bit, the song gets heavier again, but Droste continues with his clean singing style. After a hammer-down, the growls return and help give the feel of being hopelessly lost at sea. Then Droste's emotional clean singing makes a return and it feels even more hopeless. A moody electric lead rises above the heaviness and sells home the tale. All gets quieter then, and the song comes to a close.
Masts are broken
Men will break
Yards are shattered
Bodies shake
Bulkheads battered - Planks are burst
This ship is cursed - And so are we
Where to head for? - Where will salvation lie?
What to salvage? - What to leave behind?
This must be a collective lucid dream
For God's sake, make us awake!
We sold our souls to the divinity of oceans,
Bestowed our fortune to the demons of depth
Thus now we are left stranded,
Shipwrecked and collapsed
Lost in the liquid desert
Thousands of miles off
from the main
Uncertain obscurity underneath
The surface cuts the world atwain
A journey to unscrupulousness
A trip to leery human mind
A passage through ruthlessness of soil
A trek towards ferocity
A voyage into unknown
A leap into the dark
All our hopes are anchored to your mercy,
Ye, almighty sea!
"O Father Sea"
The album's shortest track opens with a start, as guitar sweeps into the listener's eardrum and the growls begin at once. Droste is really ripping it up here and the song is a plodding one. A little over a minute later and his clean vocals take over. The drumming is sporadic here and this is a really very slow song. After the two minute mark, a melodic lead rises up and steers the song on. A chorus comprised of clean vocals and guitar blend together before Droste screams, "Darkness shall overcome!"
Suddenly the song is beating down heavier, the drumming picks up, and the raft is thrown up and down upon the ocean waves. Watery guitar takes its command of the scene and lasts for a while before all instruments drop out aside from the drums. That lasts but a moment - they come back, as do Droste's guttural growls. Then things pick up again as the riffs crush the listener's ears and bring us to the song's completion. It's relatively short, but there's a lot of menace on display here.
Our boat lurches through damnation
Utter madness embraces me
Faces drawn my starvation
As we dwindle into misery
For a ray of hope we pray
Yet of ruin we are aware
In ports of doom we lay
So I yield to my despair
I feel the iron surges
Break inside my head
I feel the boiling maelstroms
Tear my mind to shreds
Hence I rue
This oath I swore
As every moment
Last for evermore
This world is turned upside down
By malisons of dire revenge
All fleshly means run aground
Hovering between life and death
All sence fade away
Darkness shall overcome!
Will you sink to ageless gloom!
Will you sigh out your soul!
Will you never find a snug berth!
"Redemption Lost"
This song also gets going right away, this time with a soaring lead melody over heavy rhythm guitars. Drums sound huge here. A minute and a half in, the leads change in melody, and become even more of a soaring sound. It's nearly three minutes before vocals come in, and this time Droste is using the clean ones again. As the song progresses, one can visualize the raft alone, set adrift, praying for survival. Double bass drums enter the scene about four minutes in and pound down on the listener. Then a solo-y sort of section appears, and finally, sometime after the five minute mark, we reach the growls, which are cavernous and atmospherically arranged here. Watery guitar takes control then, before the song finally quiets.
A nice, clean guitar passage comes along and grasps the listener's ears. Droste's clean singing returns after a spell, and it's a very hopeless, emotional plea to heaven above. Fantastic stuff. Drum beats return in the background, but finally entering the scene officially, but the heaviness still manages to keep away... for a moment, at least, because around the nine minute mark they jump back into the scene and Droste screams out from his cursed lungs.
The song finally comes to a close. I would argue that it's one of the finest compositions on the album - a lot of nice moments assembled together into a hopeless drift at sea. Great stuff.
Feel decay - Pale as clay
And all washed away
Blackest days
Arcane our way - Gone astray
And all washed away - Blackest days
Shades of grey - Aeons of dismay - Blackest days
Indulgentiam, absolutionem et remissionem
Omnium peccatorum uestrorum
Tribuat uobis omnipotens...
But how could we forgive ourselves?
For all we have done
Redemption Lost: our lay
Through wondrous depths
We've walked our way
Redemption Lost: our lay
No rest for the wretched!
No rest for the wicked!
"Tombstone Carousal"
The fifth song on the album opens with a thump before Droste comes in with his growls. These opening lyrics are taken directly from a popular toast among whalers back in the day, and are used effectively here. The song then slows down as they move forward, one step at a time. Double bass drums take over again and lead our raft through the turbulent ocean waves. After a repeat of the toast, the song quiets to simple, clean guitar. Around the four minute mark, a nice, peaceful guitar piece comes in.
Suddenly, trouble's on the horizon. While the song continues to feel peaceful, the drums signal the impending doom. Then it goes back to the peaceful piece again before it changes in sound again to a more sinister feel. Then it all seems to stop, as the guitar becomes more sporadic. Suddenly, with less than a minute to spare, heaviness crushes the listener's ear as the growls hit with a roar. They cease, but the heaviness doesn't, bringing us right to the end.
Death to the living
Long life to the killers,
Success to sailor's wives
And greasy luck to whalers.
Crush'd as the moth beneath thy hand
We moulder to the dust
Our feeble powers can ne'er withstand
And all our beauty's lost.
This mortal life decays apace
How soon the bubble's broke
Adam and all his numerous race
Are Vanity and Smoke.
Death to the living,
Long life to the killers,
Success to sailor's wives
And greasy luck to whalers.
"Gnawing Bones (Coffin's Lot)"
The second-to-last song opens with a plodding crush-down as Droste utilizes clean vocals here. Things are about to hit 11. Owen Coffin was the cousin of Captain Pollard of the Essex and when food supplies ran out in their lifeboat, the men were forced to cannibalism to survive. Coffin was the unlucky person slaughtered so that others might live, and it's this gruesome tale that Ahab recount here.
After a spell, the song slows to a crawl as the growls take center stage. About five and a half minutes in, the song gets quieter and Droste tells of the boy's death. It's a very moody piece, to say the least. Wandernoth's bass becomes a crucial part of the song as it returns to heaviness with an ear-splitting growl. It's a horrific moment as the survivors come, with a shock, to the realization of what they've become.
The song draws steadily to a close, but its effect lasts. It's one of Ahab's most terrifying tracks and a great example of how strong they are as songwriters.
Yes, we wept! Alas, how we wept.
Our faith in our father, well kept.
For God's sake: brave men we were!
Too forward to abandon ourselves to despair.
Tablets Of The Law: Heaven sent,
Thou shalt not kill: thine commandment,
Good Gracious, we set at naught,
Yet, we braved the elements, tried to defy all odds.
And his glassy, his distracted eyes,
As though his will was bound and tied,
He lay his head (down on the boat's gunwale)
it took our breath,
Few would live, while Coffin died.
Detested archair urge to eat,
Agonized by this peccant seed,
Something errant, this moment owns,
We caught ourselves
A moment of weakness
Gnawing bones.
"Nickerson's Theme"
The final song on the album opens with a quiet piece of clean guitar. Thomas Nickerson was a cabin boy upon the Essex, and it's he who becomes the titular character of our final piece. Clean vocals rise up from the sea as our survivors sail alone on the waves. The song begins an ascent, which starts to pull together around the three minute mark, as drum beats start up and finally growls and distortion burst forth. The raft bops along, buffeted by wind and rain, but on the horizon - there it stands... land.
The song slows as clean vocals come again. Then the song seems to be working towards... something. Droste begins to chant about how much he loves the sea, a terrific twist. The survivors have been desperately wishing for land, but upon reaching it, feel a calling to return to that wretched sea. The final growl achieved, the song moves forward to its end, and the album draws to a magnificent close.
Neither long or meager lay
Nor a comet on a July's day
Would lead my righteous soul astray
To cowardice, left hand's way
Oil soaked timber, wooden bone
Whatever fate - God knows alone
I pray for him to watch our trail
For I know: to kill we sail
So sing, seaman, join my hymn of
Blood and oil
Sing her out, sing of our return to
Rotten soil
First Nantucket sleigh ride, see!
Will be a kingly gift to me
O! That is where I long to be
Deep in the heart of the sea
Overall:
It took me a long time to appreciate this album. I couldn't even finish my first listen of it, it was so different from the debut that I couldn't wrap my head around it. Gradually though, I came to see The Divinity of Oceans for what it is - a very different album from its predecessor, but a fantastic work of art at the same stroke. Honestly, the fact that Ahab were able to build together two masterpieces back-to-back is incredible. This one is a survivor's tale like no other, a truly immersive masterpiece that never lets up. You can feel like you're on the raft, in the lifeboat, adrift on the open sea all alone, and it's a worthwhile experience. The melodies and calmer sections are more frequent than on The Call of the Wretched Sea, but that's never a bad thing here. It's all assembled very well.
While I cannot say that I like The Divinity of Oceans more than I do the debut, I still love it nonetheless. It's a great story portrayed via great music from a great band that knows their stuff. Top quality album. Monumental piece of art.
Simple! Right with The Call of the Wretched Sea - either the full album or "Below The Sun" or "Old Thunder" would be my suggestions for single songs to check out.
Short but sweet interview with Christian Hector about The Divinity of Oceans (this one's also in German):
A couple nice live performances from The Divinity of Ocean, one from 2010, the other from 2014.
Ahab is a great live band, by the way. Their genre helps them be more precise in execution live and it works. It all comes down to whether or not the music itself will be able to hold your attention while you're standing around.
Background Info:
Another three years having elapsed, Ahab returned with this monster in 2012 to the delight of their fans worldwide. This time the inspiration came from a rather unlikely source - Edgar Allan Poe. Sure, his grim and morbid tales are more metal than you may ever be, but it isn't "The Raven" or "Rue Morgue" that Ahab take their source from. No, rather it's Poe's only full-length novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. From that novel comes Ahab's third album The Giant, a frigid behemoth and their longest work to date (if you count "Time's Like Molten Lead" as an official track, which I do. There's another bonus track on the vinyl version called "Evening Star", but it feels more like a typical bonus track to me. We'll get into that later.)
The Giant was released with some really cool picture disc vinyls, by the way.
The vinyl tracklist is as follows:
Side A:
Further South
Aeons Elapse
Side B:
Deliverance (Shouting at the Dead)
Antarctica the Polymorphess
Side C:
Fathoms Deep Below
The Giant
Side D:
Time's Like Molten Lead
Evening Star
For the first time, the cover art is an Ahab-only affair. Drawn by Sebastian Jerke, it's a very icy piece of artwork and fits the record quite nicely.
From left to right in both pics: Wandernoth - Hector - Droste - Althammer
From left to right: Wandernoth - Hector - Althammer - Droste
The Songs:
"Further South"
Ahab open their third album with some nice, clean strumming. There's an iciness to it, a deep sound that grows and builds up. Things start to move forward about a minute in, as some simple drum beats help out the guitar. Finally at the two minute mark things start really happening. The drums start moving like normal and Althammer really helps keep this atmosphere going. Finally after three minutes of the song have elapsed, Droste comes in with clean singing, and by god, they're beautiful. The final bit of it is like a chorus of voices and it's awesome. Such a strong way to open an album.
Things start to really change-up after the four minute mark, and another thirty seconds later the song erupts with distorted, heavy as fuck guitars and Droste's signature growls. After a minute of this, the clean vocals return in the form of a plea, a wondering of where our Arthur Gordon Pym should flea to. It's a really fantastic moment in a fantastic song. Growls return after this and keep the song moving forward. Around the seven minute mark, a nice electric lead takes over and leads us right to the end of the song.
What a fantastic way to begin an album of this magnitude. This song is an Ahab classic.
I'm Arthur Gordon Pym
Or is he me?
Why is everything so grim?
Distress all I see
I'm not the victim,
I'm just the subconscious creator,
But if that's the truth,
Why is there another hell after every grief?
Why do we always stumble into even deeper chasms,
Further down, further down, Further South?
Whither should I flee from myself?
Further down, further down, Further South?!
Whither should I flee from myself?
Further down, further down, Further South?!
Further down, further down,
Into oblivion...
"Aeons Elapse"
Four seconds longer than "Yet Another Raft of the Medusa (Pollard's Weakness)", this is the longest Ahab song up to this point in time. They just keep breaking their records with each release. This one opens with a cool quiet piece before Droste starts whispering - then a minute and a half in, the song erupts into a flurry of sea foam and icy ocean mist. Distortion and heaviness pelts the listener's ear, and Droste starts spitting his lungs to the wind in a desperate cry. The song plods forward, slowly (giving a meaning to the title?).
Finally around the four and a half minute mark, the song quiets a bit. Two guitars and one bass - and then soft drumming comes in. Then suddenly it erupts again with Droste singing clean vocals over slow, trudging, epic instrumentation. Droste soon lets rip with the growling again, though, before bringing back the clean vocals. Finally, with over three minutes to spare, some really cool lead guitar takes command of the song. Slowly but surely, the guitar and bass start to fade out, while the drumming only rises and rises.
Finally it all draws to a close, with Althammer proving how great he is at giving an effective, huge, epic drum sound to Ahab's material. This song is really, really long and drawn out, but it's effective and works very well, particularly in regards to its title. I've had aeons elapse just listen to it...
Strangely confused in my mind
Aeons elapsed in a blink of an eye
Slumber of utterly ravenous kind
Waters of forgetfulness: by and by ...
Vast desire to drift off to sleep
Yet trembling at the thought of it
Lest there be some terrific dream
Like burning charcoal in a pit
Like hundredfold calamities
Most ghastly and ferocious
Like misery and monstrosities.
Abandoned and forlorn
Bed myself in waves of disquietude
Bed myself in a multitude of gloom
Bed myself in pernicious solitude
Bed myself in foreboding doom
I feel gray and leafless
My roots concealed in morass
Dreary water lies intense and black
Skeleton arms waving to and fro
Crying to the silent waters of mercy
In the shrill and piercing accents
Of the most acute agony and despair
Bed myself in waves of disquietude
Bed myself in a multitude of gloom
Bed myself in pernicious solitude
Bed myself in foreboding doom
"Deliverance (Shouting at the Dead)"
The album's shortest song at just under eight minutes in length, "Deliverance" opens with a nice bit of electric lead guitar before plunging into heaviness with clean vocals leading it forward as Droste narrates the tale. Growling starts coming in soon, though, as the song continues its steady plod forward. More electric lead playing comes forth, then some more growls, before the song changes up a bit. A cool guitar song, akin to that of a Sabbath riff or so, takes us into a more classic doom influenced piece.
Droste comes back, narrating the twisted discovery Pym has found before his eyes. This whole section is one of Ahab's more typical ones, but it's a very nice change from the norm. With a minute to spare, a really cool little lead guitar piece bursts forth from the scene and bring us to conclusion.
A large brig bearing down upon us
Stout man looking down at us
Leaning over the starboard bow
Smiling brilliantly white teeth glow
Thanks given to the Lord
For the unexpected glorious deliverance
There came wafting over the ocean
From the strange vessel a smell, a stench
Such as the whole world has no name for -
no concept of - hellish - utterly suffocating
Shall I ever forget the horror?
Ever remember the life we had?
Shouted to the dead, to the dead
"Antarctica the Polymorphess"
Opening quietly with some nice strumming and drumwork, this is another monster from the album and I've seen more praise for it than any other track on the record. The build-up here is very effective, growing steadily all the time. The instruments all meld together to raise this song up, as we climb higher and higher from the depths of the sea until we finally rise from the waves around the two minute mark as the heaviness erupts and waves roll over us. Droste comes in with the growls about a minute later. It's another trudging monster, this, and again, it's very nice, very effectively achieved. Another minute passes and the clean vocals come in, with Droste putting on another emotional performance there.
About five and a half minutes in we reach the song's "chorus", which is both weird and epically awesome at the same stroke. The chorus of voices here are a great fit for the song. Once it ends we enter a calm, icy bit before clean vocals bring in more and more atmosphere. You can feel the Antarctic chill, the freezing wind, upon the ocean's surface, many miles from shore. Then it erupts again in a roar as Droste dives deep within himself to deliver the growls.
After a spell we move back into a really huge movement which ends up bringing us back to the chorus. This in turn brings us to the end of the song, and what a song. Like the rest of the tracks on here, it's pretty fucking awesome.
A strong current setting
With heavy gales and fog
Many a strange thing written
Down in the Captain's log
Clouds of a snowy whiteness
Foreshadow immense fields of ice
South
Where the giant sleeps
Motionless, cold and proud
Eternal
Two worlds collide
Senses go numb
Sleeping
Dreamless aeons
And aeons
Will he ever
Dream again?
Antarctica the "Polymorphess"
Plays her game of bloody dice
She is so ragged and broken
Yet shatteringly adorable
Many words have been spoken
Her ways purely impassable
To the west: icebergs
Four hundred fathoms high
Our passage south is doubtful
O Father, hear our mournful sighs
This gigantic creature tossed
Its vast bulk across our thole board
Seizing one man - instantly lost
Peters plunged the blade and roared
Clouds of a snowy whiteness
Foreshadow immense fields of ice
Antarctica the "Polymorphess"
Plays her game of bloody dice
She's so ragged and broken
Yet shatteringly adorable
Many words have been spoken
Her ways purely impassable
"Fathoms Deep Below"
This one begins with a crashing opening that builds us up for the rest of the song. About a minute and a half in, Droste brings in the clean vocals before assaulting the lyrics with his guttural growls again. The song trudges onwards before we enter a cool bit which acts as a semi-chorus for the song. The song then quiets down to a nice clean which - holy shit, it's that piece the band posted in the Facebook vid. Oops, shows what a memory I have. Anyway, it's really nice.
The song starts to slow to a crawl as it continues forward. You feel consumed by the sea, the waves crushing you down, rolling over you, as you sink fathoms deep below. Great song.
No words to mark my anguish then
Of the most appalling awe
Carried into heart of men
Jane Guy wrecked in bloody blazes
All our gear to pieces torn
Confined we are in bizarre mazes
Lost, forgotten and forlorn
Fathoms deep below cognition
Fathoms deep beyond unknown
Fathoms deep beneath perdition
Our fate is carved in stone
Arcane glyphs from hollow earth
Trace our ways from birth to berth
Pervaded by desire
Soul now longs to fall
Escape the dread so dire
End it in a squall
Phantom voice now whispers
Screams within my ears
In bitter swoon I wish to leave
Rushing from my fears
Fathoms deep below
Doomwards let us row!
"The Giant"
The title track just erupts from out of nowhere with a roar and holy shit is it awesome. The first verse is sung cleanly with a chorus of vocals before Droste calls out solely in another of his more emotional performances. It isn't long before the growls come in. This song is really moving. Suddenly it slows to a crawl before it returns to a steady pace and the clean vocals return. Some more growls before things quiet down.
Things move slowly forward as Droste continues his soulful clean singing and signs off. The song continues to build up, more and more with each second. After a while it final returns to heaviness and the song plods forward and forward until it finally ceases to exist.
Steering southwards
Tsalal we flee
Into shady
Towards the polar sea
Falling prey to the grotesque
Falling prey to absurdity
Blurring layers of gray
We scend through scales of white
Monochrome perpetuity
We scend through time and tide
Of truth we can't catch sight
A tale too dark to light
Of blackness, of intensity,
of obscurity and glare,
of gloominess and brilliancy,
of somberness and gleam,
of murkiness and luminance,
of ashes soil the snow
Silver blood pours from wounded skies
Drowning our anxiety
Black man, white beast in dismay cries
Phantasmagoric me
Vaporize in sheer reality
In blackness, in intensity,
in obscurity and glare,
in gloominess, in brilliancy
in somberness and gleam,
in murkiness and luminance,
in ashes soil the snow
I hear thee chant my name
Faint voice distant and dim
I prithee, please enfold me
Colossus pale and grim
I reach you from Nantucket
I'm Arthur Gordon Pym!
I'm Arthur Gordon Pym!
"Time's Like Molten Lead"
Technically, this is a bonus track, but I've always thought it fit right in with the rest of the album quite well and is a most satisfying conclusion to the tale. It opens with a simple, quiet guitar bit which seems to work well given the title. Finally it moves into a nice electric lead piece before things quiet down and bass becomes the only instrument there. Finally something starts happening - the other instruments return in moderation and Droste starts whispering to the listener. It's a really nice somber moment.
Then the song seems to start building up, slowly but surely. Actually, then it changes back - but hold on, it's building up again. Finally the distortion erupts and we're floating along with the molten lead. Some nice guitar stuff bring us forward until, at last, seven and a half minutes in, we reach the growls, and goddamn are they some of Droste's best. This song also has some double bass stuff going on in the back, which adds to its effectiveness.
Finally it slows down to a trudge again before electric leads come back. The song moves forward to its end and with it the album comes to a satisfying conclusion. I can't imagine why they didn't just use this as the official closer because it works so well. Great song.
When ignorance is bliss
Our voices nothing but a sore hiss
We yearn for redemtion, for an end
Yet we keep heading on
While time`s expanding - running slow
Like streams of molten lead
In this moments of need
our memories will soon be gone
There`ll be no end
There`ll be no end
No end
No end
No end
No end
Father, is this the end?
Overall:
Once more, Ahab excelled at writing and recording a great album. There's a lot of iciness to The Giant which they don't have on any other release and which makes it such a coldly cool album to listen to. The musicianship is great, the lyrics are great, it's overall a consistent album with not a bad track on it. Strong stuff.
I dunno whether I prefer The Divinity of Oceans or this one, but I do know that I was always more favorably impressed by The Giant since my first listen to it. It's a long, plodding behemoth of a record and well worth a listen. Ahab just don't let up.
I know, it's been a while, and I still have to go through the last album. It's definitely coming, I'm just trying to balance out my schedule with my other stuff so that I can get around to doing it. In the meantime, here's a fantastic piano cover of track 1 from The Boats of the Glen Carrig, "The Isle":
Ahab are releasing their first live album! It only features songs from The Call Of The Wretched Sea, but I’m looking forward to it! Release date is June 26.
Tracklist:
01. Below The Sun
02. The Pacific
03. Old Thunder
04. Ahab’s Oath
05. The Hunt
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And it's absolutely awesome. I have probably never heard funeral doom done better.
