Genre : Atmoshperic Sludge
Label : Zeitgeister Music
Origin : Germany
Rating : 9.0 / 10
Woburn House plays a rather rare type of sludge music, and what makes this sludge special, is that it does not seek to intimidate its listener. This German group delivers caressing lightweight sonic data, coming to you through touches hidden in a glove hot as the vicinity of hellfire, and the intent never is to wear you down or to fix you into a brick wall.
Woburn House's music cunningly and willingly reigns in the position of being elegantly lost in space, yet always remains ready to give a ping of life upon request. The album's agenda is firm and original, while its sound is capable to summon - in my opinion - a truly special mood that reeks an alternate universe Type O Negative of the early '80s with Peter Steele contemplating in ambient terms. Read on to find out more about this.
The peculiar character of the music on this release is not something you can easily come across. In fact, it is safe to say that Sleep Summer Storm comes to you with a sound that has all the chance in the world to hit you as rather original, free and unmannered, and, as something you did not hear before. Sludge, and its closely related extreme buttbudy, funeral doom are subgenres that seem to utilize the method of musical intimidation without restrain : the explosion of the tuned-below-hell guitar and the crawling drums are sonic entities you are familiar with while under sludge-siege, or, if you find your awareness amidst the tidal anti-torsion fields of funeral doom. Booooosh! In other words : sludge, and funeral doom are intimidating forms of music, and what makes THIS particular release unique, in my opinion, is the fact that it is capable to summon a super-similar vibe with tender methods and instruments, while rejecting intimidation.
The songs herein are deceitful images, as is a woman who comes close to you, only to make you realize that her face, which seems so pretty from the distance, is 1000 years old. The fabrics of the tracks are not too "busy" at all, there always is plenty of room for modest, but proper variation, mainly administered by simplistic, yet efficient arpeggiated harmonies and random sonic entities that find relevant function in their respective environments. The delivery remains tender in nature, armed with its lethal kiss even when it puts its grouchier face on.
The vocal contribution sounds to me as a conscious fanboy tribute to Peter Steele, as the method the related data is expressed through is quite similar to the vocal style of the Type O Negative fronter, in my opinion. It must be mentioned though that the singer lacks the
(n)e(c)rotic deep
of Peter Steele, and, fortunately, does not even try to go for THAT pitch. He instead delivers along the similar mood register, but, on HIS natural frequency.
The Type O Negative correlation is something that the whole album baths and finds beautiful sonic pleasure in, but not with an intent to rip the mood off. Good luck ripping off Type O Negative properly by the way, as Peter Steele had - and I sure hope still has, in his favorite form of existence - an exceptional sense for brutal-fragile harmonic hooks that pull a checkmate on the awareness right away, and this methodology evidently is one that the creators of this LP are greatly enjoying from Mr. Steele, too. I have a hunch that this record might work pretty well with a variety of situations and moods, and the only viable test to the pudding fails to elude me, too. This LP easily is one of the most special releases of 2011, and you definitely should check it out.
Rating : 9.0 / 10
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