Entry 319 - Woods of Ypres - IV: The Green Album

 

Scratch another one off the list of albums that desperately needed a repress. When this was first announced I was scared that the pressing quality was going to be poor. Woods V was over an hour long and got pressed to a single LP. Unsurprisingly the sound quality of the record was incredibly poor. Fortunately IV got a 2LP release.

It's been quite some time since I really sat down to listen to this album. The past few days I've been revisiting the album and its nearly 80 minute run time. I remember the album having quite a bit of variety and a hefty dose of doom influence. Both of these were spot on.

The core writing component of Woods IV is simple repeating lines that develop over the course of the song. This could easily turn monotonous and tiresome, but they are executed in such a way here that they overcome both of those traps rather easily. Let's take my favorite track here as an example.

I Was Buried (At Mount Pleasant Cemetery) is an epic eight minute song that revolves around a chorus that is the song title. It's repeated nearly twenty times during the songs length, however the song changes quite significantly over the course of the mantra. It begins with a sombre doom inspired chorus, then picks up the pace a bit, then it falls into a calm instrumental section (with an oboe lead no less), only to revisit the initial riff but at a much increased pace and harsh vocals instead of the baritone from the start. Even though it's repetitive in one aspect, it's hardly a boring song.

This concept is taken throughout a majority of the songs on the album. The album also explores quite a few different paces and moods. Ranging from punk inspired grittiness to classic doom to black metal. The album is not afraid to experiment, and it does so with great success.

Woods IV is likely the best album that they would release during their all too short tenure. While not everything in the 80 minutes is exceptional, everything here is worth listening to. This is the type of album that has something for nearly every type of metal head in it. It has a place in everyones collection that likes heavy music.