Marrow of Dreams

This album was probably my most difficult listen yet.

In a previous review, I mentioned how the music in question had a lot of depth and this meant that it required a measure of focus and attention in order to appreciate. If one allowed their minds to wander, they likely missed something. Some people would argue this means the song is boring, but I would instead argue that the song simply requires appreciation.

The aforementioned statement of depth couldn't be truer with Woebegone Obscured's second album, 'Marrow of Dreams.' I was rather excited for this one. The cover is bright and appealing, in total contrast to the kind of music held within. You'd think that despite the name, this was going to be a very 'poppy' sort of album, all of the music in the major scale and really uplifting. That it might be layered, with multiple facets in a kaleidoscope of avant-garde or experimental musicianship, crafted into something unique and sublime; a true one of a kind Funeral Doom listening experiece.

Instead, we're given something that I have struggled to properly label. It's not quite funeral doom, it's not quite experimental. It's very avant-garde, which I suppose is being generous but to be honest, it's really just a confusing mishmash of different shit.

The first song can't decide on what it's trying to be, what mood it wants to convey or where it even wants to go. It doesn't look good for your album when the first song is entirely filler -- And that's exactly what 'Waters of Mount Woe' is; a confusing jumble of different ideas that don't really go together. It's almost surreal to listen to this album and know that this is the same band that released 'Deathstination,' which is arguably the superior album here. The disappointment is palpable, especially when you consider how nice the sound is. Everything is clear and rather crisp. I love the acoustic sound of the drums, it's just an authentic feel and not overly processed with studio editing.

But everything is completely wasted on the discombobulated structure of these songs. 'Waters...' confusion carries over in the second track 'Vacuum Ocean' which has no real direction at least until the acoustic interlude at the 11:35 mark which proceeds into the ending of the song. The next three minutes of the track are characterized by this grandiose, forlorn atmosphere that almost makes up for the previous 11 and a half minutes of cyclonic convolution. These three minutes carry the rest of the track on their backs before it devolves at around 14:20 and thrusts you right back into the mire of puzzle pieces that is this song and, so far, this entire album.

It doesn't change into the third song. 'Crystal Void' has a bit more structure than the previous two tracks and I appreciate the attempt to hold it together with the nice acoustics and guitar noodling throughout the songs, but dispersed in between each of these segments are continued measures of filler. And it doesn't stop for the rest for the album. I'm not sure how six years of writing since their first album culminated in this giant mess. The one track that is a consistent and well-structured song is 'In Suffering Darkness Dwell' which is what one would expect to hear on this album after listening to the previous. It's a plodding piece of Funeral Doom with some interesting elements going on, but it's pretty straightforward for what Woebegone Obscured have done in the past.

I can't accurately describe what this album is and despite the score I am giving it, I can't even begin to express my disappointment either.

5.9/10. 59/100. I really didn't want to rate it this low. One year from now, I am going to revisit this album and hopefully have a different opinion. I really want to praise Woebegone, but this album is either really bad or I am just too ignorant to appreciate what Danny Woe was trying to do here.

With cover art featuring a joyously glowing daisy, you’d be forgiven for thinking this album was some kind of hippie chillout extravaganza had it not been for the fact you are currently perusing Ave Noctum. Of course, reality is far from that – this is the 2nd full length album from Danes Woebegone Obscured, having taken the best part of 6 years to follow up from their debut. Taking their time is clearly ingrained in their very spirit, as it seems like to tackle everything in a slow and agonisingly drawn out manner (in a good way). The five tracks that make up this album clock in just shy of 80 minutes of funeral dirge hell/heaven (depending on your persuasion).

Dissonant chords crash into each other, shimmering and echoing like oceanic turmoil, clean and harsh vocals share the limelight, with massive melodies shining through the ringing discordant turbulence, shuddering and billowing like giant lungs sighing forth a death rattle. There’s a lot to like here, and at times I’m reminded of some of the true greats of the scene in their soundscapes. Continually allowing a seemingly never-ending expanse of depth and space in their sound adds to their bleakness, slowly flattening you in an anaconda-like grip of depression. However, it’s not all plain sailing. The clean vocals sound a bit weak from time to time and are often overused in my opinion. Also, a couple of the tracks seem to lose their way around the halfway point, before returning to the sonic drudgery that started them off so well. It is little niggles like this which can turn a great album into an average one, and I’m afraid that for me, this is what has happened here.

The label blurb mentions Woebegone Obscured in the same sentence as Evoken and Thergothon. Sure, those are easy comparisons to make. However, Woebegone Obscured aren’t on the same sort of planet as those two monoliths of the genre. Those guys measure on the Richter scale of subsonic crush, whereas these Danes are still in the embryonic stages of knowing how to attack your listener with slow, creeping death/doom. Sure there are many signs of greatness here, but ‘Marrow of Dreams’ doesn’t quite have the nuance and judgment to quite tip you over the edge. Yet. I will be watching their progress very closely from now on however. Not bad at all, but not quite the finished product I think the band were hoping to achieve.

Originally written for www.avenoctum.com

Though I laud these Danes for expanding greatly upon the sounds of their 2007 debut Deathstination, I still found myself having several hangups with a complaint I usually lodge against doom metal albums which overstay their welcome: if you haven't got enough material to really swell out a track between 13-20 minutes in length, then it might be better to chop them down. Not that there's anything particularly terrible in how Woebegone Obscured 'pad' out the intended epics, but as a sort of transcendental, 80 minute listening experience, this one often seems more empty than full. 'Empty' in the way that a lot of doom metal bands feel this genre needs to feel, perhaps, but hardly conducive to a mesmerizing or compelling auditory escape, so as much as I attempted to engage with the naturalist imagery of the packaging in contrast to the dreary glories of the compositional style, I just never sunk into that next level of immersion.

That said, Marrow of Dreams is an acceptable listen if you're in the mood for just something slow that might sort of fade off into the background, mood music for glade-gazing and cloud-counting which maintains a fraction of the gloomy edge of its predecessor. In fact, this is sort of like a 'life' alternative to the 'death' of the debut, and conveys its sense of sadness and expression in brighter shades than that crushing murk. There are still some pretty pure death/doom tunes like "In Suffering Darkness Dwell" which border upon the funereal, but even there the glacial melodies or cleaner strings woven throughout have an almost abstract notion of warmth that permeates the dusky, drawn-out chords. With almost no exceptions, I greatly preferred the more spacious and ambient-imbued passages of the album, where the strings really breathe, or where the cleaner melodic vocal tones reign supreme, or perhaps you'll hear a natural sample or two, but this is not exclusive, since the chugging and growling is almost inevitable, and it's almost constantly mundane in construction with no real creativity beyond the fact that there are often other atmospherics measuring off against it. Intuitive and simplistic as a rural trail, but lacking thrills or surprises around any corner.

Even though they occasionally drift into awkwardness, the variety of the vocals is actually a stronger point, with the more ethereal, tonal voices balanced against death/doom gutturals and a slightly higher rasp, it seems like there are multiple personalities in contemplation against the mourning naturescapes. The guitar melodies are also quite solemn, like a slow rain on tree leaves as it crashes to a forest floor, sort of reminded me of what I liked so much about Paradise Lost's amazing Icon record, only nowhere near as catchy or concise. This blend of slower, almost folkish doom atmosphere also had me reminiscing over the Yearning debut With Tragedies Adorned, a little known Finnish album which conjured up a comparable, rustic sense of environment with rays of sun glaring off hillsides and woodland canopies. Alas, where those works had the benefit of tighter songwriting, this one just tends to drift along the river for far too long, never quite losing sight of its purpose, but nevertheless rambling on inoffensively. It's not a bad album, but perhaps a little more indulgent in its vacuity than I was prepared for, and as a result not much about it stood to memory, very few moments inspired me to return to them repeatedly.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com