Albums

Album Review: A Storm Of Light

[Album: And We Wept The Black Ocean Within]
[Label: Neurot Recordings]

“Bog Bodies” are encapsulated in the sodden murky depths of bogs throughout Northern Europe, where under certain conditions, the soil acts as a preservative and tans the flesh of the person leaving facial features and even fingerprints intact. Bones do not stay preserved as the acidity in the peat is so high that they get dissolved. This is one of only a handful of clues given to unravel the enigma of A Storm of Light’s debut album ‘And We Wept The Black Ocean Within’. It is an extraordinary well thought out and orchestrated album in conceptual metal with contemplative lyrics, finely produced music, and stunning cover artwork.

Amongst the other notable visual artists that are influential within spheres of metal music—such as Jacob Bannon (Converge) and John Baizley (Baroness)—Josh Graham has taken on a new project called A Storm of Light with bassist/vocalist Domenic Seita (ex-Tombs, ex-Asea) and drummer Pete Angevine of Satanized. The songs on ‘And We Wept…’ were conceived after months on tour with Red Sparowes.

The album explores the notion of the unreliable narrator as literary device. The first person lyrics make it intentionally unclear as to whom the protagonist in the story is, and even Graham himself is not too keen to tell all. All the clues are within the artwork and the music. The lyrics explore themes of grief, depression, regret, and denial, and it is possible that each theme could be attributed to a different entity, thus giving different views to the same subject. The album lasts for an hour and, out of 10, only 3 songs are under 5 minutes in length. It is a slow moving, heavily dense album full of suffocating layers of vocals, guitars and keys. It is good match for the subject matter and the band do a great a job of evoking the feel of the vastness and isolation of the ocean aswell as the intensity and depth which lies underneath the surface. This is no “Leviathan” though, with references and support to Greenpeace in the album sleeve, Graham seems to be delving into the subject of contemporary commercial whaling.

It could be said that the album revolves around a narrative between two different protaganists, the hunters, and the boat itself. A time and place is uncertain. The first track, ‘Adrift’ sounds exactly like its title. Layers of keyboards and synthesizers coupled with sound FX give the impression of a dark, open seascape. ‘Vast and Endless’ blasts into your ears with a heavy sustained guitar riff. The lyrics suggest the album is narrated by in fact the whaling boat “I’m cold and silent always across the sea/And I cannot escape the blood they shed/The screams pierce my hull”. The bass, in parts of the song, sounds like clanking chains on the side of the boat. The third track ‘Black Ocean’ continues to reinforce that the album is told from the vessel’s perspective: “Through the night the hunt goes on/This is my life as a hunter on this forsaken sea.” The production is once again spot on as there are lots of mids and lows to give that murky, bassy feel. From then on the voice of the album pens tales of guilt and remorse with an almost suicidal edge as it cannot prevent the hunts taking place. In ‘Mass’ the lyrics reinforce this, “To crush and rust my shell I could have saved them/While they died in pain I could have kept afloat/I could have saved them/I could have sunk down.” Near the end of the album, the guilt becomes too much “The feeling of guilt weighs down/I cannot stop them/They kill for greed/I am falling, I am breaking, I am nothing, I am sinking.” (‘Leaden Tide’), and as the cover art perfectly illustrates, the ‘Iron Heart’ finally sinks the ship leaving a very sombre end.

‘And We Wept the Ocean’ is a powerful and heavy album in so many ways and is packed with suspense and tension all the way.

For fans of: Red Sparowes, Neurosis, Jesu
Band link = A Storm Of Light

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