Good news for all you ocean loving metal fans out there! Ahab is finally back with a new full length studio album, entitled "The Giant." They have really outdone themselves with this one. They've gone above and beyond their usual sound that were used to from their two previous albums, "The call Of The Wretched Sea" and "The Divinity Of Oceans." The funeral doom metal band from Germany pulls out all kinds of new tricks that'll throw you off your seat for sure.The first track, entitled "Further South," opens with mellow guitar riffs and light cymbals that shine in the background. The first five minutes of this nine minute track has zero distortion effects as you are hypnotized by psychedelic guitars and slow melodic bass lines. Gorgeous clean vocals open up the verse with a soothing atmospheric tone. The lyrics echo with beautifully with long held notes and catchy melody. The second half of this magnificent track comes in with massive amounts of distorted guitars blaring in your face with monstrous riffs. This is followed by exploding drums and shattering cymbals. Dark demonic growls fade into the verse and will absolutely rip you to shreds. The chugging guitars continue to play, the vocals switch over to soft clean singing with depressive tones. This track is a must hear track. And you're only one song in!
The second track, "Aeons Elapse," is the longest song on the album and starts off with whisper vocals that completely consume you deep into the track. The guitars hold off on the distortion again as smooth melodic riffs begin to weep. About to minutes in, heavy distorted guitars come blasting their way in with booming drum rolls to connect with them. The vocals change to a harsh yelling sound that reminds you of a sludge metal type of vocal. The song structure is phenomenal as it constantly changes both style and tempo keeping you at the edge of your seat at all time. Each transition runs perfectly into the next. "Deliverance" is another incredible track that will have you wanting to replay again and again. The guitar work in this track is absolutely gorgeous. They continue to blend the soft angelic riffs with beastly chugging guitar riffs that shake you violently with every aggressive note. The vocals jump around from depressive clean singing to more vicious growling that'll make you shit yourself for sure. You'll even come across a beautiful guitar solo towards the end adding a solid beauty and the beast type of feel. The instrumentation is just stunning.
The final track, entitled "The Giant," contains some punishing guitar riffs that slam away with violent chords. The tempo will have you bashing your head and throwing up your devil horns immediately. The vocals deliver a powerful blend of deep devilish growls along with more depressive clean singing that kind of reminds you of the vocals from My Dying Bride. They're performed in a very slow emotional tone full of depression. However some of the clean singing towards the middle of the track leans a little more towards the positive side as beautiful melodic guitar riffs begin to shine with repetitive riffs. Slow thumping toms and snares build up to final two minutes of the song as they slowly fade in and begin to get louder and more violent. Even the cymbals go from light taps to full splashed. Meanwhile the bass is rumbling beneath you as it followed the melody of the guitars. The sound blend together and become louder and louder until you hit the very last seconds of the track and everything just drops. Make sure the album is on repeat because you're gonna be begging for more.
Ahab has managed to pull off another spectacular album. "The Giant" may arguably be their best work of their career so far. They've really extended their sound to a whole new level with their complex song structure and large variety of vocals. This is an album that you can listen to over and over again never be bored. Each track is unique and powerful in their own way. This is easily a top ten album of the year. Definitely make sure you check this record out.
9/10
Official Site - http://www.ahab-doom.de/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/ahabdoom
NICE REVIEW MAN!!
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