Lumbering on...

These two acts set out to participate in two different kinds of music. How they would go about playing their respective styles is what sets them apart from the rest of the pack.

Woods of Ypres - Woods II - Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth (2004)



These Canadians have 4 full lengths under their belt. I posted the first album I heard from them and then feverishly sought it out for purchase, much like you will be doing.

Their latest release, aptly titled Woods IV was just released this month and was funded by the band and their fans. Earlier this year the band had posted on their Myspace that they were trying to continue their musical independence by accepting donations in order to help with the recording costs and manufacturing. They must have succeeded because the band was able to release their new album without anyone really knowing about it.

This is where you come in.

Woods of Ypres plays black metal in the vein of Agalloch (see the pattern?), and Enslaved. There's just as much emphasis on the heavier side of things as well as the melodic. The singing ability the band possess is what really helps drive home the very melancholy feel of the songs in a way that you can almost feel the bitter winter of Canada chilling your very core.

Black metal goes one of two ways these days, either symphonic and goofy as hell, or in your face raw heaviness that keeps close to the form of the early days. Some bands evolved black metal into something a little more expansive and that's where Woods of Ypres comes in.

Like their aforementioned familiars, Woods of Ypres creates great songs that shift gears appropriately in terms of feeling which then creates the forward movement of their music that contains plenty of dynamic structuring thus ensuring lasting impressions. They never get too carried away with the doomy mellow aspects of the music either. Those moments do have their place and in addition, they provide plenty of black metal integrity in the ways of assaulting speeds. Woods of Ypres have found that space in between heavy and melodic that works to project the emotions that classic black metal exhibits which is the delving into self and spirit. The mood swings are natural as they direct the songs seamlessly in and out of the turmoil that the artist chooses to share with the listener.

Another thing I would like to mention is that looking at the band, you would never think they are a BM act. See? They get it.

Tusk - Tree of No Return (2004)



Tusk released "The Resisting Dreamer" in 2007 and they did this without original singer Jody Minnoch as the press released stated he was not available for the project at that time. Instead Toby Driver of Kayo Dot and Evan Patterson of Young Widows would take the vocal helm. Whether this means that Minnoch is not with the band any longer remains to be seen and if this is true then I sincerely doubt the band can make an impact should they become active again.

The first time I heard this band was in video form in which singer Jody Minnoch was seen marching and falling in a spastic rage, the song kicked ass too. My point is Minnoch's madness really helped get the band's sound across as it does on "Tree of No Return". One can consider this grind, and they should but not without some real consideration as to what else is happening on this record.

Tusk enjoy heavy and noisy. Their mashing of the two created one of the most abrasive albums I had heard in awhile. Lucid intervals are picked right back up with great fury as the songs build and explode in a rage which Minnoch is the voice of. This is forward thinking grind if you will and still I have to note that I use grind loosely as the first release "Get Ready" set the pace and this monster presented here was the irritated hang over from that binge of litany.