Artist: Woods Of Ypres
Title: Woods 5 Grey Skies And Electric Light
Type: Album
Label: Earache

Recently I read some gumph on the NME website with a list of the 50 most depressing albums ever made. About a quarter of them were fully expected and deserved but the majority of them were just the whining Indie bands that the magazine champions, the most depressing thing about them is the fact that they were made in the first place and the best course of action for the artists is a kick up the arse rather than anything else. There are many depressive albums in the world that we embrace and listen to and quite honestly the 5th album by Canadians Woods Of Ypres should be heading to the top of any such list without needing to pass go or collect £200 on the way.

Some depressing albums have a subtext that makes them all the more so and Woods V is sadly no exception. The band have shed many members since they started, when they originally formed in 2002 they played a in a much harder black metal style with everything leading up to their fourth release ‘Woods IV – The Green Album’ an exercise in heart-wrenching misery, with nihilistic despair at the wretchedness of humanity at its core. Not since the demise of Sentenced had any band managed to get to grips with songs about surrender and suicide quite so adroitly and in such a touching fashion. One listen to numbers like the fantastic ‘Wet Leather’ and the listener did not know whether to sing along in jubilation or sling themselves off the nearest tall building. The album was to me an instant classic when I first received and reviewed it and then I was not really surprised to hear the group had signed to Earache and were close to releasing their 5th opus.

News started to filter in just before Christmas that David Gold, core member, singer and guitarist and song writer had died. We quickly discovered this was true and that the musician had been killed in a collision with a vehicle in Barrie Canada on the 21st December aged just 31. David was a pedestrian and to my knowledge the ‘accident’ is still under investigation. There will always be rumours over any death like this and it is not for us to probe deeper, all that is left to say is that this album becomes David’s legacy and swansong and the world has lost a very talented musician.

In case you have not gathered, this is not a happy album, in fact I cannot think of any quite so dour and pessimistic that I have heard in a long, long time. Prepare yourself for an hours worth of it. That said there is a cheeky and underlying sense of humour found straight off on first number ‘Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide). I did a double check on first listen and if I had not known Pete Steele of Type O Negative was no doubt currently pouring David a drink I would have guessed he was doing a guest spot. The song is catchy and one of the faster ones, from the opening Katatonia etched guitars through to it’s flailing leads. It is actually like the song Type O never got round to recording. The album quickly goes on to prove that it is no Career Suicide in the slightest but the album that with projected live dates ahead of them would have taken David and Joel Violette into the next league (possibly whether they wanted to be there or not). A touch of woodwind helps the solitude of ‘Travelling Alone’ along. I can imagine sticking your thumb out at the side of a road to nowhere, trying to hitch a lift; it’s all gloomy doomy and quite hopeless. I’m going to resist the temptation to quote lyrics, feeling they are too personal to do so. They are integral to the music and clear and understandable, they need to be read and heard as much as the music itself. A lot of the songs here are slow and sombre and really do bring the listener down, for this reason when one does the opposite it probably makes it all the more effective. ‘Lightning And Snow’ is very much a case in point and is as stormy and tempestuous as you would expect from the title. The vocals even get a bit of a rasp about them as this kicks into gear and it is obvious that this crack of light would have been electric live! Talk about a complete contrast, after this we have a piano led ballad about dying, ‘Finality’ which is poignant, bleak and beautiful.

This is a tough album to review considering what happened but so is life, which as the singer states on ‘Death Is Not An Exit’ can be precious after all. You either go with the knocks or go onto whatever comes next. I kind of find myself thinking about the infamous suicide song ‘Gloomy Sunday’ playing this. If you had to choose an album to go out on well……

An unexpected and muscular thrash attack has ‘Adora Vivas’ flexing muscles and the group are peppering the more downbeat parts with some visceral jugular ripping attacks now. Everything leads towards the two part ending and the touching ‘Kiss My Ashes Goodbye’ which despite thematically being miserable as sin has an upbeat flair behind its incredibly catchy and jaunty melody and choruses. Besides even if death is the end those that carry on still have to embrace the memories of the deceased and this is a very fitting conclusion to a very special album.

Woods V is not an everyday album, it is one to be listened to and savoured at the right time. It is one that is probably best encountered without distraction and in its entirety too, on your own. I shall definitely be buying this and doing just that!

(8/10 Pete Woods)

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