Ahab: The Coral Tombs

Nautical Doom lords Ahab return with their fourth studio album, The Coral Tombs.

I’ve often thought the stylistic reference of 'Funeral Doom' doesn’t do Ahab’s sound enough justice. For a lot of music fans, the Doom tag serves as an indication that a band plays slow, downtrodden, lumbering music. This certainly is part of what Ahab do, but I feel like this tag only scratches the surface of their sound. There are layers of emotional complexity and compositional nuance that are likely to appeal to fans of progressive metal as much as fans of Doom-I liken the genre spanning appeal that Ahab have, to that of recent Pallbearer or Elder works. Admittedly Ahab don’t sound a lot like either of those bands, but all three bands have a level of compositional virtuosity that seems to help them transcend the Doom tag.

This is no doubt the case on The Coral Tombs which is at times a sonically dense and musically complex offering. Whilst I’m labouring the point that the album is complex it doesn’t shy away from being a Doom release either. There are moments of brutality, mediative sections, sombre mellow interludes, and moments of shear power. There are also plenty of moments that just Doom! The varied vocal styles are welcome too, with extreme vocal styles being used in lieu of emotive cleans (when the songs requires it) for full effect.

Ahab have offered up a demanding and challenging album. The album is over an hour’s worth of music that needs your full attention to really appreciate what they've crafted. In fact, I found myself zoning out and not really absorbing it when i tried to take it in whilst working. The album rewards listeners who take the time to digest the album with their undivided attention. It’s an investment in time well worth making though; I would put it up as one of the stand out albums released in 2023 to date.

Track Listing

1. Prof. Arronax' Descent Into the Vast Oceans
2. Colossus of the Liquid Graves
3. Mobilis in Mobili
4. The Sea as a Desert
5. A Coral Tomb
6. Ægri Somnia
7. The Mælstrom

Added: March 14th 2023
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
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Language: english

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