Today I listened to Woods of Ypres's stellar first demo/album, “Against The Seasons: Cold Winter Songs From The Dead Summer Heat.” I know the band refers to it now as an album, but at thirty minutes and without the clean production from their second two albums, it could also be considered a demo release. Regardless, it's great. WoY hadn't quite found their voice yet, and stuck to a more traditional cold, harsh black metal landscape. Despite this, on a few songs, most noticeably “The Sea of Immeasurable Loss” and “A Meeting Place And Time,” incorporate some clean vocals, a standard in later Woods efforts. I also find the story of the album to be less cohesive than that of either of the following releases, furthering my opinion that W1 is more of a demo release. Nonetheless, the piece is great. Partially because WoY Hadn't fallen into their niche yet, and partially because I listened to the second album first, the pure Black Metal sound feels somehow 'wrong,' and going any farther over those thirty minutes would have been a mistake. Lyrically, I find nothing wrong with the album, though David Gold's oft brilliant words are in this case hidden under a layer of murky, thin “Black Metal” production, abandoned on subsequent releases. This has caused, though, the rare instances of clean vocals to stand out even farther, as former vocalist Aaron Palmer (Is this correct?) pleads “could you be careful with your words/because my world is in your hands,” a line that partially caused my slightly unhealthy love of the Woods. Aside from complaints in terms of production, this demo/album stands out as a fantastic piece of post-Norway Black Metal, too Canadian to be called USBM, and filled with enough Doom to bring about a few intense personal moments, Against The Seasons demands attention. The album closes with a short burst of speed, capping off a fade-out and focusing the Woods' energy towards their much more powerful second album, Pursuit of the Sun and Allure of the Earth.

Right now I'm listening to Kroda's brilliant debut full-length, “Cry To Me, River.” A Ukrainian band, I cannot fault them for their impeccable, if possibly unintentional play on “Cry Me A River.” Despite the slightly-cheesy title, Kroda pulled through and, in my opinion, brought forth the greatest folk metal album ever produced. Everything about CTMR screams out cultural pride, the driving force behind much of the folk-metal scene. Eisenslav and Viterzgir adore their country, and it shows on this album. Though I cannot speak Ukrainian, and Metal-Archive's translations probably don't capture the essence of the original, one can easily see the patriotism Kroda embody in lyrics such as “This is Fatherland, yours and mine, - Always remember that! Glorious be in ages, forever alive, -My Land! My Ukraine! Fatherland, in all the world only one, Free, Mighty, Great” from the aptly titled song “Native Land.” But despite foreign, overdone lyrics, Eisenslav proves himself an excellent singer, his growls neither overwhelming the music nor failing to show themselves when necessary. I can also say this: he knows when to shut up and let the flutes do the talking. And talk they do! On nearly every track, the folk elements blend perfectly into a seamless blend of folk and metal – something some other folk-metal bands seem to have forgotten. Manegarm are the only other band I can think of who maintain such a pure mix of the two genres, band like Tyr switching from song to song somewhat, or supergroup Folkearth who weighed down their albums with too many exotic instruments all competing for attention. Kroda, though they flip back and forth between more-Metal and more-Folk, they do so within each song, and the two compliment each other well. Keyboards or panpipes carry a melody over a rhythmic guitar line, which gradually fades into the melody as well, swallowing the pipes whole and spitting them back out when it comes time for more folk. I often do not even notice the transformation. Drums, while not innovative do their job well, providing ample blast-beats while not straying into overuse, rounding out an already dense sound with numerous cymbal crashes and king-size fills. CTMR grabs other Folk-Metal albums by their Nordic balls and gives it a nice, strong, Eastern European, leather gloved fist to the face. Plus, they used to sell scarves with their logo.

In blog news, I haven't settled on a name yet, though I'm considering something along the lines of “Today I Listened To:” and trying to avoid “clever” plays on songs or album titles. If I can get sufficient material written before I leave, I think I can figure out how to have it automatically post stuff. Who knows?

In personal news, I sat around a lot today and also purchased the latest Unrestrained! magazine, with Woods of Ypres on the cover, an event which partially inspired this post.