The opening track “Prof. Arronax’ Descent into the Vast Oceans” opens with seismic brutality and eldritch screams, but you are soon to be calmed by the hypnotic guitar leads and clean vocals of Daniel Droste (guitars, vocals, keyboards). “The Coral Tombs” conveys its own epic trademarks of Ahab, fascinatingly the long duration of 66 minutes exhibits a characteristic shift in sounds inviting the listener slowly into the aquatic realm of the unseen. The drums embody the brutal and fundamental aspects of funeral doom, while the guitars are giving you the choral effect of horrific mystical creatures. The impenetrable riffs of Chris Hector encapsulate the atmosphere and the lead guitars are textured. The slow guitar arrangements show how Ahab pieces the monolithic song structure, there are many slow moments within the song structure.

The following track “The Colossus of the Liquid Graves” becomes more apparent in its transitions from the sludgy doom-driven guitars and the guttural growls. The opening riff of this track comes like a heavy crushing wave swelling like the tides of a leviathan. Deep growls and psychedelic guitars have these eerie patterns, while Cornelius Althammer‘s drumming is powerful. The band delivers a sulky atmosphere and Stephan Wandernoth’s bass guitar provides powerful oceanic pulses. The third track “Mobilis in Mobili” takes a turn to the gloomy nautical sound of Ahab, heavy guitars swell like tides and swirl like a maelstrom giving you the feel of something lurking inside these deep murky waters. Eldritch growls burst out from the deep oceans conveying horrors, and they are enough to give you the chills, while the tempo is brought slowly the riffs crawl and dance around the scaly tentacles of a giant octopus. The track begins with ghastly growls bringing a harrowing sense of despair and gloom.

“The Sea as a Desert” is sonically weighting in a dynamic pace the approach seems to lean towards heavy sludgy guitars and drench-reverb growls, and the slow pacing of the drums crushes your soul. “The Choral Tomb” is a bombardment of oceanic maelstrom the music is vastly spacious and filled with emotion-packed clean vocals, although I’d preferred if the clean vocals were used less than the growls, the songs on the album are monolithic. Ahab’s nautical voyage remains full of musical twists and horrors, and even the slower moments create vivid and haunting images in your mind. “A Coral Tomb” display a precise level of musicianship and opens with a funeral dirge of bleak melody.

The slow guitar arrangements show how Ahab pieces together the monolithic song structure, the slow eerie intro of the track begins with ghastly growls bringing a harrowing sense of despair and gloom. The guitar ventures into psychedelic territory that captivates with effect-laden hooks delivering a diverse range of progressive rock and trippy sounds that comes into motion on “Ægri Somnia”. The sudden eruption of the drums and the massive riffs in the tempo is quite powerful, Althammer offers a masterful sense of balance to the songs. And Daniel Droste undoubtedly prefers the modernistic approach to the fundamental funeral doom sound of early Ahab. In my opinion “The Choral Tombs” would have sounded more appealing if the band played their music in the vein of their debut full-length album “The Call of the Wretched Sea”.

Furthermore, you may find many similarities to (old school) Opeth, especially in the style of the clean vocals and the lead guitars. The album concludes with a ten minutes track “Mælstrom” which utilizes the same formula of clean vocals and trippy guitar leads, but somehow the song transitions into dense heavy riffing. Luckily there are some brutal cavernous growls that create a gloomy atmosphere, but I guess it’s the mindset of allowing much diversity by applying elements from sludge doom, droning atmosphere, and arpeggio guitars.

Links