Ahab – The Divinity Of Oceans (2009)

After their killer debut “The Call of the Wretched Sea” I had been waiting impatiently for the bands next album and luckily I got their latest opus “The Divinity Of Oceans” in the mail a few weeks ago.

I must say I have never been a huge fan of Funeral Doom Metal, because I think is really boring, when I heard Ahab’s debut I could not claim this at all, the band’s debut was very heavy and slow in nature, but the band is very skillful at creating intricate and complex songs that last for what it seems a few minutes but in fact they are pretty long.

“The Divinity Of Oceans” features 7 tracks for a total of almost 70 minutes of mesmerizing music that will keep you fully awake and in what I call “Doom Mode” for the whole duration of this album. The band clearly improves on their first album by adding different vocal arrangements other than the destructive growls; the clean vocals are very good and add that extra dimension to the bands sound.

The bands minimal use of keyboards marks one of the band’s best characteristics since they use them in short amounts and at the right time to enhance the overall atmosphere. The slow and mournful guitar riffs are top notch and what catches my attention the most is the slow solos presented at some points, adding their weeping sound to the overall mix of elements.

The bands concept involving Moby Dick and oceanic themes, makes their lyrics very interesting to read and very diverse from the traditional lyrics of the genre. Having formed only in 2004, Ahab is one of the most promising bands of the genre, since their abilities to write 10-12 minute epic songs are unrivaled. I’m very surprised that I never found my self yawning or dousing off with this album, since it’s that good.

These German masters of the sea are clearly here to stay and they have managed to release probably the best Funeral (Nautic) Doom Metal album of the year so far. I can only hope they keep this impressive work up and blow me away with their next release, until then I will be enjoying “The Divinity Of Oceans”

Release: September 22, 2009

Country: Germany