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Band: Dead Melodies
Album title: Legends Of The Wood
Release date: 16 May 2017
Label: Cryo Chamber
Tracklist:
01. A Trial Of Crows And Blood
02. On Devil’s Hill
03. The Hooded Nine
04. Peace Black Descent
05. Unearthed
06. A Malevolent Rising
07. Wretched Masquerade
08. Beautiful Coalesce
Dead melodies is a new artist who I saw pop up in my email as I woke up and knew this would be good. These soundscapes are pushed forward by one man: Tom Moore who has a few fairly unknown albums scattered in his bandcamp and a notable release from last year on Sparkwood Records called subtle imperfections, which is a lovely blend of eerie ambiance and post rock. Now we are blessed with this new album Legends Of The Wood as the album starts with heavily reverbed guitar reminiscent of ‘Hakobune’. A sense of warmth washes over you, you hear crows in the distance signalling the end of things to come, or maybe a warning of the black forests inhabited by spirits.
Crows tick on your windows late at night as your pour yourself over dusty books, a hermit some may say. Spirits within old wood keep you at bay in your cabin, avoiding what lurks outside these four walls. Rolling thunder in the distance tops the anxiety off, in retrospect you wonder why you came here in the first place. Sliding off your bed you drag yourself toward the dying embers in the hearth, “out of wood again…” you mutter to yourself knowing you have to go out there.
Birds call to you outside and the door creaks open as you lean your body weight against it. This brings us to the fourth track “Peach Black Decent” as you descend into the dark corners of your mind. You lean down to find that the ground is warm, “How unusual for such a cold day?” you question yourself, while noticing the leaves below you are flattened as if somebody has been sitting here.
“Maybe what I was told about devil’s hill is true? It can’t be… but there’s only one way to find out”, you end up trudging over towards the dark, gloomy hill and when reaching the top, you turn around to see the view. “Barren… bleak and barren” you whisper to yourself as you turn back around to go further onward. A few steps forward and then you walk into a doorway, you look around you and walk into some sort of citadel… could this be the home of the spirits that linger within these forests? Unintelligible voices all around you spin around your head as if to ward you off this wretched place.
The melodies within these soundscapes fit perfectly toward these memories of this place you once inhabited. Tracks like “Wretched masquerade” and “A trial of Crows and Blood” really make you realise the peak of Tom Moore’s talent he’s been waiting to unleash for so long. Heavy bass, gorgeous field recordings, and drones of the highest order really make me think this artist will be one to remember for years to come. These are some heavily processed and high quality field recordings, drones heavy enough to crush anyone’s good spirit, and a story that really makes this album special. Light and dark balance out very well and lead you into intriguing old legends worth looking into. You’re left with these questions: are you ever really alone in nature? Are the legends of the black forests true? Are forests really alive?
Review written by: Tom Necklen
Rating: 10/10
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