Woods Of Ypres

Ontario doom and gloom powerhouse Woods of Ypres make their Earache debut, not with a new record (now in progress), but with the international release of their last full-length, Woods IV: The Green Album. More than a year after its initial independent unveiling, Woods IV still oozes dark, dramatic intensity and fully deserves the wider exposure. Like some earlier Woods of Ypres, The Green Album begins gently, almost wistfully, but soon gains weight, steamrolling through a raw tale of loss and the move towards recovery. Doom metal is at the record's core, but with room for stylistic variation ― moments of black metal, death metal and goth, echoes of dark acoustic folk and guitar solos that grow right out of the surrounding soundscape. It's the atmosphere ― mood more than genre ― that makes the whole cohere. Woods' David Gold taps into cathartic despair, a wretchedness that his distorted guitar expresses and bleeds away. Listening to The Green Album again (and again) is utterly satisfying in itself, but as the final chords fade away, I can't help wishing for Woods V.