Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

We Were Together In A Memory And We Live Forever, In Finality

#66) Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012)

 1. Lightning & Snow
 2. Death is Not an Exit
 3. Keeper of the Ledger
 4. Traveling Alone
 5. Adora Vivos
 6. Silver
 7. Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide)
 8. Modern Life Architecture
 9. Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)
 10. Finality
 11. Alternate Ending

this is Woods 5th and final album. unfortunately band founder, guitarist and vocalist David Gold was killed in a car accident back in December, just 2 months before this album  was released. i talked to him a few times online and he was always nice and seemed like an all around cool guy, he'll be missed. the lyrics heavily revolve around death, dying and depression and it makes for kind of an eerie listen when you hear Gold sing things like "love me in the flesh, don't wait til death to sing my praise" and "though we leave the world apart, i still went peacefully, quietly with you still firmly in my heart".

musically the band has been evolving over each record to the point where they have a black metal meets Type O Negative melodic doom kinda thing going on. this was a great album and i think the band really hit their stride here. there are a lot of great riffs, the interplay between the more "metal" parts and the melodic parts is done well and the use of piano, cello and oboe really heighten the dark, melancholic atmosphere and the songs can be quite beautiful at times.

i'm really gonna miss this band. though the album is great and definitely finds them going out on a highnote, i can't help but wonder what would have been next. at least i have 5 solid albums to remember them by.

David Gold 1980 - 2011 RIP