I only learnt about this Canadian band after high school. My first exposure to them was this album, their fifth and last. I was immediately hooked. What was especially imposing about them was the deep baritone voice of the late singer, David Gold, as well as the direct, blunt, and quite disconsolate lyrics that, while still remaining highly relatable, can verge upon banal, especially on paper, but with context and Gold's voice, work perfectly. The influence of Type O Negative is clear, although I only learnt about Type O Negative via Woods of Ypres. Today's excerpt is the opener and best song on the album, Lightning & Snow.
A special influence this record had on me was the fact that the last lineup of Woods of Ypres (Joel Violette, guitar; Rae Amitay, drums; Brendan Hayter, bass) formed a band called Thrawsunblat after Gold's death. (Editor's note: Joel Violette had actually already formed Thrawsunblat with David Gold before his untimely death.) Thrawsunblat is one of my absolute favorites. It is a Canadian example of the "non-cheesy black/folk metal derivative" discussed earlier.
Thrawsunblat's latest album in turn contained so clear Jethro Tull references that I picked up on them even though I was only familiar with Jethro Tull via their televised gig in London in 1977. Joel Violette has stated in an interview that Thrawsunblat's "Great Brunswick Forest" continues the story of the "Green Man" from Jethro Tull's "Songs from the Wood" in the forests of New Brunswick, Canada. Songs from the Wood is one of my favorite albums, and the credit for me discovered it belongs to Woods of Ypres via Thrawsunblat.
My take on Woods of Ypres: This is by far the best Woods of Ypres record – tight stuff from start to finish. The preceding album ("Woods IV: The Green Album") is quite good as well. The one before that ("Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues") only contains one highlight, a song called "Your Ontario Town is a Burial Ground". On the contrary, the record before that one – Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth – is very good. On the debut album "Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat", there is only one good song, but that song might be the most impactful song of all Woods of Ypres songs. The song is called "A Meeting Place and Time", and it – along with Queen's Death on Two Legs and Dire Straits' It Never Rains – contains the most vicious lyrics I know. The song tells a story about a failed relationship. The man proposes a meeting of reconciliation, but when the woman fails to show up, the man mutters the most evil curse any Canadian could come up with: "I hope it's cold every day where you are".
influence: Thrawsunblat, Jethro Tull, Type O Negative
excerpt: Lightning & Snow (YouTube)
This post was retroactively compiled on 2024-01-19 from an old Facebook post.