Of Woe and Wounds

Of Woe and Wounds, the third full-length album by Apostle of Solitude, is the most ambitious effort that the Indianapolis doom group has put together so far. In contrast to the experimental tracks found on Sincerest Misery and Last Sunrise, this album makes a statement of definitive purpose and the song structures have a stronger feeling of unity and completion. It may be downright accessible by doom metal standards but the depths this album reaches also make it apparent that they haven’t lightened up by any means.

While Of Woe and Wounds rarely strays from the melancholic doom template popularized by Warning and Pallbearer, the changes in the band dynamic result in a few new quirks being thrown into the mix. The addition of bassist Dan Davidson gives the rhythm section a boost on “Whore’s Wings” and recruiting Devil to Pay guitarist/vocalist Steve Janiak results in extra care being put into the album’s vocal arrangements. His grungy timbre on “Lamentations of a Broken Man” makes me wish he had been more prominently featured but Charles Brown’s Reagers-style cries deliver excellent hooks on numerous occasions.

The songs themselves also manage to cover a lot of ground in comparison to previous efforts. The pounding riffs and forlorn vocals on “Blackest Of Times” would’ve made it one of doom’s most brilliant openers if not for the “Distance And The Cold Heart” prelude while “Die Vicar Die” offers a simple but catchy hook to go along with its waltzing rhythms. Elsewhere, “Whore’s Wings” and “This Mania” aim to be the band’s fastest songs ever, “Push Mortal Coil” brings in some swing in the vein of “The Messenger,” and “Luna” just might be the band’s most downtrodden.

Apostle of Solitude has always been a band worth noting in the modern day doom scene, but their third full-length is a noteworthy achievement that should be looked into by just about any metal fan. The songwriting is much more focused and the songs have the potential to become major staples with a little more time and press behind them. The band will likely find ways to continue expanding their sound in the future but here’s hoping they’ll still live up to this standard of consistency.

Highlights:
“Blackest Of Times”
“Whore’s Wings”
“Die Vicar Die”
“Push Mortal Coil”
“Luna”

I couldn't wait to listen to this album – the cover art and the album title alone sounded so appealing. Of Woe And Wounds is a beautiful name for an album, and I expected the music to invoke that same sense of poetic despair as the title did. Boy oh boy, was I wrong.

There's really not that much to say about the album, as it's neither complex, nor fun to listen to. One thing will become painfully clear while listening to Of Woe And Wounds : you will not hear a single thing that hasn't been done before. Now, inspiration is never a bad thing, much less in a genre like doom metal (hell, just take a look at all those stoner/doom bands imitating Black Sabbath, Sleep or Electric Wizard), but for some of the more enjoyable bands in the genre, the saving grace is that they know how to produce a well-written and, especially, interesting song. The main problem with Apostle Of Solitude is, that they possess neither of these qualities. On Of Woe And Wounds you will find a whole lot of watered down doom metal – imagine it, if you will, like a glass of water – it will quench your thirst, but wouldn't you rather have a sip of that cold, refreshing lemonade?

None of the songs contained on the album will pique your interest – neither riffs nor instrumentation are remarkable in any way: here and there you have some energetic and refreshing parts, but you can rest assured, that the rest of the song will drag these moments of respite right back down into an uninteresting mess. 'Push Mortal Coil' is one such an example : it's a song containing some enjoyable riffs – mostly in the beginning – that are brought down by the subsequent parts. The songs, however, that are the most frustrating to listen to are the slow ones – the “doomy” ones if you will. This is baffling: I'm not saying, that a doom metal band has to play slow (hell, look at bands like High On Fire and Trouble, which have comparatively few slow songs), but if a band decides to play slow, they should at least be able to make it interesting. Apostle Of Solitude fail in this regard: they are seemingly incapable of writing a song, that will keep your interest, and while the faster songs are listenable (though far from enjoyable!), the slower ones are not. The band relies too heavily on repeating the same boring riffs for 7 minutes, without bringing about much variation. I'm not saying that every riff on the album is boring – Apostle Of Solitude do write some decent ones – but they are repeated so often, that it all becomes monotonous. 'Lamentations of a Broken Man' and 'Luna' are probably the worst offenders in this regard.

I get it, the band wanted to create a bleak atmosphere – but this dark atmosphere turns sour very quickly. Repeating riffs in doom metal songs always means treading a narrow path between boredom and enjoyment: while bands like Reverend Bizarre succeed in writing massive sounding songs based on just a few riffs, others (like Apostle Of Solitude) do not. The boredom factor of the album is partly also due to the vocals sounding thin and uninteresting – the only time I said to myself 'Oh, these vocals are somewhat interesting' was during the chorus of 'Die Vicar Die' and 'On Whore's Wings'. That's it. The remaining vocals sound forced, nasal and the vocal melodies are, at best, bland. I asked myself if the vocalist was even capable of singing in a range spanning more than five semitones, because, I swear, every single line is sung the same.

What can you expect on Of Woe And Wounds? Not much, really. The album barely qualifies as a doom metal record, for starters: it's more like a modern doom/heavy metal hybrid than anything else. Sure, you have the stereotypical slow songs, but one thing, that makes doom metal so enjoyable, is the atmosphere – this album does not sound dark, it isn't heavy. It seems as if though Apostle Of Solitude take everything that characterizes doom metal and throw it all together in the hopes of creating something that people can agree upon calling doom metal. The band failed, and the album, ultimately, is nothing more, than a chore to listen to. Do we really need another doom metal band, that relies too heavily on vacuously copying things that have come before? I don't think so.