Woods of Desolation is back on track.
Eight years after his previous album, the Australian musician D. (guitar/bass/vocals, Forest Mysticism, Unfelled, Remete) has decided to offer us a fourth album, The Falling Tide, which is released by Season of Mist.
The mastermind collaborates with the Ukrainian Vlad (Drudkh) for drums and keyboards.
Far From Here gently guides us into this dark and haunting universe with airy sounds, quickly followed by a killer blast and cold riffs. Tortured vocals will also appear to accompany us in this cloud of uninterrupted gloom strengthened by majestic keyboards, then Beneath a Sea of Stars offers some catchy strikes before unveiling us all its intensity. The combination of all elements creates a thick sound which seems impenetrable, but it sometimes slows down to become darker or to let heartbreaking vocal parts appear before the storm gradually calms down to lead us to the dreamlike Illumination, which offers us a short moment of respite before letting a wave of enchanting saturation hit us. The track is slightly quieter than the others with some soothing parts, while The Falling Tide is immediately aggressive and raw despite the airy elements developed by the duo. We still notice a break with hypnotic Post-Rock accents which will revive the visceral rage through vocals before The Passing, the shortest track, allows us to breathe with clean but sometimes a bit dissonant sound. Melodies welcome again a soaring but still soothing saturation, then Anew will close the album with a heady mix of piercing leads that fly over a dark and heavy basis from which come howls of despair, before a soaring final.
A Woods of Desolation album is always a timeless experience, and this one is no exception. In just over half an hour The Falling Tide takes us into its airy darkness and haunting sounds to amaze and transcend us.
90/100