Review Summary: Death is remembered in this bleak life and modern times...of grey skies and electric light.
Death. It comes to all. With death the end of a journey is reached, but death is also remembered. Remembrance of a death fits the story about to be told, about an album which marks the death of a band but the beginning of remembrance. This band was called Woods of Ypres, and they were a Canadian Blackened Doom metal band blending elements of black metal and doom metal. The fifth and final album, Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light was released in February 2012 in the UK and April 2012 in the USA. This album marked the end for the band because of the death of the founding member David Gold. Gold formed the band in 2002 with two former members of the band and released their first Ep, Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat in 2004. After the initial extended play, the band went through numerous line-up changes and created four albums with their final in 2012. With their final album Woods V, the band proves their most mature effort. In this critique of Woods V, the album will be analyzed, interpreted, evaluated, and on how engaging the work is. What makes the album such a standout, is that it served as a martyr for the death the founder David Gold (vocalist, guitarist, drummer, keyboardist, and songwriter) who died prior to the album’s release date in an automobile accident on December 21, 2011. Gold’s lyrics are extremely depressing, life denying, and overall ‘doomy;’ which is why the album is almost like a foretelling of his own death. It was like Gold knew of his impending demise and through expression of his lyrics, told the listener what he thought of his life and the world around him. Now that an understanding of the context of the album, it is time for analysis.
Woods V, is an album which works well in expressing emotion, connectivity to life and death, and one of remembrance. The album’s production is near perfect to today’s standards and helps the overall quality, sound, and musicianship of the band. The album starts off with the track “Lightning & Snow,” which introduces the album brilliantly with an upbeat keyboard into guitar and is probably the most upbeat on the album. This song is one of the only to have black metal styled vocals, which are a shrieked type of high pitched vocals, mixed with the dominant baritone doom metal vocal style, which is Gold’s signature sound. The lyrics of the song parallel losing something (lightning) and how long the grief took affect (snow). The next song, “Death is Not an Exit” slows the initial pace of the previous track and displays more depression. Lyrically Gold expresses his view of how death is not an exit, because the only certainty is life and once we die, we become nothing as we were before. The song has a beautiful cello passage which makes the emotion of the song stronger. The third song, “Keeper of the Ledger” starts off with the black metal styled vocals but quickly develops into the signature doom. The song is about how nature doesn’t care about life, it just wants our body when our time is up and the arrangement we have with nature is a pact that benefits nature. The song has an aggression expressed by Gold, in which he almost hates the fact that despite anything he does it all comes to an end. The fourth song, “Travelling Alone” is by far the strongest lyrically and sonically on the album and has strong emotion. The song is about how Gold expresses that he sees the existence of God in those who believe in him, but he doesn’t. Gold sings about how he is thankful for being alive but despises this life and how he has tried to find purpose in life but cannot.
After the great and painful “Traveling Alone” comes the upbeat and aggressive “Adora Vivos.” This song expresses itself perfectly with theses lyrics; “A moment of silence…but not one moment more. The dead are to be forgotten, we are here to be adored.” Gold expresses how we should worship and love life as it is all we know (as we are alive) and not as we die. The transition between this song and the next is a peaceful one and the aggression is turned to melodic harmony. “Silver” is the title of the song and lyrically expresses the relation of how the city has made the one Gold loved cold and how he is now alone and depressed. The song transitions smoothly into the oddest song for the overall theme of the album, “Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide).” The message of the song is quite positive, making it the oddest one and lyrically tackles the fact that with career suicide life isn’t over and how it isn’t real suicide. The next song, “Modern Life Architecture” starts off with a long intro with winding guitar passages mixed with drums and keyboard into a beautiful vocal performance by Gold. The song truly represents the doom sound of long droned out guitar and slow drumming and the sludgy sound mixed with Gold’s baritone vocal style. The rest of the album consists of slow songs with emotional punch. “Modern Life Architecture” transitions to a two part song that is similar in nature of sound entitled “Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye).” This song lyrically signifies Gold’s death and when it happens to ‘kiss my ashes goodbye’ and to let the memory fade with his passing. “Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye) Pt. 1 and 2,” are the songs which makes one think that Gold foresaw his own death and his expression on the subject of his passing. The final two songs, “Finality” and “Alternative Ending” represent the quiet and melodic side of Woods V the best and fits the end of the album. Both lyrically tackling an end to life, the remembrance of life, and with the end we return to nothing once more.
Interpreting and evaluating the album as a whole is really interpreting and evaluating the final piece of work for Woods of Ypres. What makes the band stand out is their initial blending of black and doom metal styling with Gold’s signature baritone vocals. Compared to previous outings, Woods V, proves the most mature and builds upon their previous album, Woods IV: The Green Album (2009). Woods V, lyrically and instrumentally is superior to its predecessor building upon the doom elements of the band with less emphasis on the black metal style. Consistency and evolution in sound have helped Woods of Ypres develop their unique style. Evaluating the album is evaluating the final piece of art for Woods of Ypres and serves as a great last album. Compared to other bands in the genre such as Agalloch (ambient folk/black metal band), Type O Negative (doom metal), and My Dying Bride (doom metal), Woods of Ypres do an excellent job contributing to the genre and type of music. Woods V helps further the genre of doom metal with the legacy of Gold and the messages he brought. Doom metal is about depression, despair, and impending doom. Through interpreting and evaluating Woods V, one will see that the album will go down in history as one of the best in the doom metal genre and for the legacy of David Gold.
Woods V is an engaging album on a personal level, and through listening to the album one will feel very connected, especially if the lyrics and meanings behind the songs connect to the listener. By listening and knowing the story of Woods V, one can become a more critical and active consumer of media. Doom metal may not satisfy ones like in music, but through listening and understanding the messages behind the music, one can receive a better knowledge of the world around them. To give Woods V a score would be a hard one because of the death of David Gold, the album score may increase because of the legacy it will leave behind. To score it musically compared to others in the genre, an 8/10 will be given, but as for the legacy, a 9/10. Overall, Woods V is an album that will stand the test of time because of the memory of David Gold and the messages he sung. Through analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and engaging the piece of art, one can see that Woods V is an album worth visiting, especially for those who enjoy doom metal. Death may be the end of a journey, but death also marks the beginning of remembrance to a man and his band. Rest in peace Woods of Ypres, rest in peace David Gold.
