Ahab’s debut album - The Call of the Wretched Seas - it starts and then it ends. What happens in between? Well, that can be hard to figure out. Clocking in shy of sixty-eight minutes, this album can be an undertaking, especially when you account for the repetitive doom, the nautical funeral doom. Wait, what? What the hell is nautical funeral doom?
Nautical - (adjective) of or pertaining to sailors, ships, or navigation
Alright, makes sense, Moby Dick.
Funeral - (noun) the ceremonies for a dead person prior to burial or cremation
Okay, that works too. Metal and death.
Doom - (noun) fate or destiny, especially adverse fate; unavoidable ill fortune
Damn. Exactly what Ahab is trying to do.
“Below the Sun” does exactly that formula. And Wretched Seas doesn’t let up till the end. Honestly, that is the beef I have with this album. The Call of the Wretched Seas is a wonderful idea for an album. Let’s take a literature classic - Moby Dick - and put it to music (I am currently reading Moby Dick, so I was immediately drawn to this album). In the wake of Mastodon’s Leviathan (that album is so dope), Ahab is taking on a daunting task. The merit is here. But it is too damn long.
The instrumentation, the production, and the drumming, especially, sounds incredible. Personally, all of the vocals are dried up and leave something to be desired. They would work for one track, but all of them? Come on. Let’s build on musical ideas, let’s evolve in an album. Show us why we need to stick around for sixty-plus minutes. Point out to the listener how a song is supposed to evolve. I hate when artists cut and paste songs together. And at points, Wretched Seas appeared to do this. “The Sermon” and “The Pacific” were especially guilty. To me, the songs didn’t entirely make sense, they just kept on going. I couldn’t handle being droned consistently into a ten minute track.
Not to say I didn’t enjoy the album. It had its merit. The main downbeat riff on “Old Thunder,” excellent. Ahab had its high points. Using Melville’s lyrics was an ingenious idea. The transitions between songs flowed ever so greatly. Daniel Droste and Christian Hector’s guitar work melded together unnoticeably. They worked off of each other and neither played over each other. Not to mention, Cornelius Althammer is no doubt an exceptionally talented drummer and composer. All in all, the album was a good listening experience. I am glad I dived in. Will I return? Who knows, maybe.
Seven Queequegs out of ten.
Words: Josh Thornton
Ahab |Facebook