Ahab

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Leader : ImmortalPride
Politique d'adhésion : Ouvert
Créé le : 1 jan. 2009
Description :

A celebration of mighty Ahab, doom metal from Germany.

NEWS: Ahab has starting studio work on their NEW ALBUM and will be going on a European tour with ESOTERIC May 30 to June 9!

Heed the call of the wretched sea and bow to the divinity of oceans...

In what amounts to a monumental wake of despair, Germany's nautic doom pioneers AHAB have unleashed the third and final instalment of what they refer to as their "Nantucket Saga", THE DIVINITY OF OCEANS. The adventure that began with The Oath-EP in 2005 and continued through The Call Of The Wretched Sea in 2007 has come to its logical and bitter end. Not that this is the end of AHAB, but rather the final necessary step before starting a new chapter. Inspired this time out by the books "In The Heart Of The Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick and "The Wreck Of The Whaleship Essex" by Owen Chase - the latter of which inspired author Herman Melville's legendary work, “Moby Dick” - AHAB tells the tale of the Essex crew and the failed whale hunt which saw the ship end up at the bottom of the sea and doomed its crew to the horrors of cannibalism and an uncertain fate. Like the books, the songs on The Divinity Of Oceans capture the essence of a horrific turn of events while paying respect to the unwilling participants. Taking measure of the music, it's fair to say AHAB has done the work of Philbrick and Chase justice.

No question, AHAB offer up their own unique brand of doom metal. The typical BLACK SABBATH, CANDLEMASS and SOLITUDE AETURNUS comparisons used when describing the genre do not apply on The Divinity Of Oceans - nor have they ever where AHAB is concerned - as the album sets a brooding juggernaut pace that makes a much stronger impact than one might expect. Each song is an epic unto itself, the music is bombastic in spite of what being doom metal is supposedly all about, and Droste's vocals have taken the band in a direction no one would have expected upon diving into The Call Of The Wretched Sea. Calling doom metal "unpredictable" is a stretch at the best of times, but the term certainly applies on The Divinity Of Oceans.

Formed in 2005 by vocalist/guitarist Daniel Droste and guitarist Christian Hector, Ahab's line-up on The Divinity Of Oceans is rounded out by DEAD EYED SLEEPER members Cornelius Althammer (drums) and Stephan Wandernoth (bass), with Althammer pulling double duty as recording engineer and producer. In Hector's estimation it is "the best line-up we ever had in this band." Engineer Markus Stock (THE VISION BLEAK, EMPYRIUM), whom Droste and Hector worked with previously on MIDNATTSOL's 2008 album, Nordlys, was on board to mix and master the album at Klangschmiede Studio E, and the results are startling. Hector's initial descriptions of the songs for The Divinity Of Oceans as being akin to "CARCASS in slo-mo" and "MORBID ANGEL going beyond the slowness of 'Blessed Are The Sick'" are warranted, and his claims that the album might remind people of DEVIN TOWNSEND gone doom metal hold water by the bucketful. Indeed, on an atmospheric level - particularly where Droste's clean vocals are concerned - The Divinity Of Oceans may even be seen as the dark and doom-ridden bookend to Townsend's epic Terria album from 2001. High praise, perhaps, but well earned.

That said, the greatest strength of AHAB's new album is its ability to appeal to metal fans unaccustomed to or simply uninterested in doom metal. The ultimate achievement for any artist, and one that bodes well for the future no matter how dark it gets.

Welcome to The Divinity Of Oceans, the soundtrack for lost souls.

The odyssey of the ship Pequod and its captain, Ahab, is a well worn tale of bad omens and obsession. It begins with the prediction by a person deemed insane of the death of everyone signing onto the whaling vessel bound for Nantucket. None of the sailors realize the danger they are in until they are at sea, when Ahab – supported by his harpooner Fedallah – forces the men to swear to help him kill the whale known as Moby Dick, a creature that has left him scarred both physically and mentally. The oath is sealed with a strange old ritual, and from there disaster takes its course. Ahab lures his men on to their destruction.
This story is a beloved classic, but no one could have anticipated the dark and ambient re-telling by the German funeral doom band AHAB. Their first EP, entitled The Oath, is an interpretation of the sinister ceremony conducted by the fabled captain to gain the fealty of his crew, a dark soundscape that ever so slowly ties your guts into a knot and frays the nerves. Daniel D. uses the sheer power of his voice to deadly effect, the growls and striking choral arrangements (‘The Hunt’) creating a dreary musical soundscape accentuated by crushing distorted guitars.

”Whale ahead!” bellows the voice from the speakers. And the hunt begins…

Discussions en cours

ImmortalPride a commenté sur
“Short metalhammer.de-interview with Christian Hector” (3) juin 2009

ehre-wotans a commenté sur
“New album named and dated ” (2) juin 2009

FiresOfOrc a commenté sur
“Ahab....” (6) janvier 2009

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Généraux Spécifique à ce groupe

1	Ahab	15
2	Opeth	5
3	Agalloch	4
4	Lifelover	4
5	Swallow The Sun	4
6	Alcest	4
7	Isis	4
8	Ulver	4
9	Woods of Ypres	3
10	Neurosis	3

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jodionline

Das was man vom neuen Album bisher hören konnte, gefällt mir schon mal sehr gut. Musste jetzt erst mal die Vinyl-Scheibe ordern.

avril 2012
heathen_girl

Teaser of new AHAB album http://northwind-promotion.org/north/news/teaser-of-new-ahab-album/

avril 2012
ImmortalPride

NEWS: Ahab has starting studio work on their NEW ALBUM and will be going on a European tour with ESOTERIC May 30 to June 9!

février 2012
ImmortalPride

Yep me too.. SAIL AND KILL!

février 2012
Diademof12Stars

I have the shirt with the image from the main picture.

janvier 2012
ImmortalPride

New Ahab shirt avaliable from Napalm Records! http://www.napalmrecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=13175

octobre 2010
ImmortalPride

Ahoy! The beast, it still breathes, we must stay vigil till its heart has ceased! Put on an Ahab record and let its thunder roar, the hunt resumes once more! We will have that whale yet!

septembre 2010
Fionnait

very much in love with this band.

juin 2010
Hamm-bo

You're an absolute bastard. :P That's going to be fantastic, you're very lucky. Summer Breeze is actually looking pretty swish, wish I had the money and my boss wasn't such an arse about time off.

juin 2010
ehre-wotans

About that Tryptikon comment: I can really recommend that one, too. It's a great album with heavy doom influences on it. About the "Set Sail to Doom & Horror - Tour": It's not my intention to piss you off, but I'm gonna see Ahab twice this year: First on SummerBreeze Festival, then on said Tour through Germany : )

juin 2010
vanderb0b

WHALE AHEAD!

mai 2010
Hamm-bo

It's for fans of Celtic Frost's Monotheist as it's Thomas Fischer from CF.

mai 2010
ImmortalPride

Never even heard of them. Will check it out.

mai 2010
Hamm-bo

As for recommendations, have any of you tried Triptykon's Eparistera Daimones? It's absolutely fantastic.

mai 2010
ImmortalPride

Yeah they wont come here either, seems they play most of their shows in and around Germany.

avril 2010
Hamm-bo

Also, the joy of being messaged by Ahab was swiftly crushed by this message. 'AHAB: Hi. Sorry, at the moment there are no plans to come to London in in the foreseeable future. But would be great to play there one day...'. Bugger.

avril 2010
Hamm-bo

Yeah, instead it seems to be a bunch of vaguely related to completely unrelated groups, I think 'Suicidal Music for Suicidal People' annoyed me the most. There should definitely be a way to pin artist fan groups to the artist. Any of you lucky Germans going to make the Set Sail to Doom and Horror tour?

avril 2010
ImmortalPride

Agreed about the Manowar comment. Napalm Records is pretty damn good with deliveries, I'm overseas in Canada and usually I get my orders from them within 5 business days. This group seriously should be bigger, I figured that people would see it in the "related groups" section on the side but I've never seen it there and dont suppose anyone else does.

avril 2010
Hamm-bo

Lol, A.C.A.B. is a good one - not had that yet! My favorite was a drunk guy asking me if it said Arab. I told him it did, seemed simpler than explaining the reality. Haha, I'd rather people thought it a hommage to Manowar even though I'm not a fan than thinking Ahab are 'pirate metal'. Hoping my Seawitch t-shirt turns up in the post tomorrow, shipping from Germany to the UK takes a lot less time than I first expected.

avril 2010
Kordras

Thanks for reminding me that I need to get an Ahab shirt.

avril 2010