Entry 278 - White Ward - False Light

 

Good lord this one took a while to click. When the album first dropped I listened once and was extremely disappointing. Love Exchange Failure and Futility Report are among some of the best black metal to come out in the last 10 years. I thought the band had completely lost it with False Light... I was wrong.

At the prompting of a friend I revisited the album a couple of months ago. By the time the trumpet solo started in Leviathan I was sold on the album. I'm not sure what I heard the first time I listened to False Light but whatever it was it is not what I am hearing now.

This album is incredibly dense. Every moment of every minute on the album is jam packed with riffs, ambience, jazz, and intensity. The incredible thing about what White Ward have here is the intensity takes on different forms. Not just the sheer force of the music, but also the incredible emotional impact that each of the songs has.

Much like the albums preceding the saxophone plays a large role in the sound of White Ward. This is largely a continuation of what was found on Love Exchange Failure. The sax is used as both a pivotal part of the more ambient sections as well as a climactic piece for when the band needs a solo or that one extra element in the music to drive it over the edge. It works so well with the band that White Ward simply would not have the same impact as it does without the sax at this point.

False Light is one of those albums that sets the standard for the genre it's in. Hardly any other band can match this level of song craft at this point. It's albums like this why I still listen to metal.