NOW AVAILABLE: “HEART OF GOLD: A TRIBUTE TO WOODS OF YPRES” (AND A NEW CANOPY RECORDING)

On December 22, 2011, David Gold died in an automobile collision near Barrie, Ontario, at the age of 31. With his death, so died Woods of Ypres — the doom/black metal band that he co-founded and of which he was the sole consistent member over the course of five albums and assorted other releases. But of course the music of Woods lives on in the lives of the band’s passionate fanbase.

As we reported last July, a woman named Steph LeDrew organized a musical tribute to Gold and Woods, recruiting a large number of bands to record covers of Woods songs. Yesterday, the tribute album — Heart of Gold: A Tribute To Woods of Ypres — was finally released and is now available for purchase on Bandcamp as a digital download for $10. At one point the project was soliciting PayPal donations to that gave donors the option of receiving a 2-CD physical version of the album, though the option to buy a physical format doesn’t currently appear on the Bandcamp page.

The album was mastered by Dan Swanö in Sweden and includes cover songs by 19 different bands or band members, including Novembers Doom, Panzerfaust, Amaranth, and members of Woods, Thrawsunblat, and Into Eternity. The full track list and album stream appear later in this post. But I first want to highlight one song in particular, because it was recorded by a long-time favorite of this site — Sweden’s Canopy.

Canopy’s last album was 2010’s Menhir (reviewed here), so it has been a long wait for something new. If you’ve never checked out Canopy’s music, I strong recommend you do that; Menhir is available on Bandcamp via this link. The Woods of Ypres song they recorded is “Falling Apart”, which happens to be one of my favorite Woods tracks of those I’ve heard before.

Canopy are in fine form on this song. The music is crushing, doom-shrouded, and rocks very fuckin’ hard. Fredrik Huldtgren’s beast-like roars are mixed with strong clean vocals by Mario Santos Ramos, and the band’s cadre of guitarists really show off their impressive skills with a variety of tremendous solos. Listen:

There have been hints that Canopy are working on a new album, which would be a very welcome addition to what’s already shaping up as a banner year for metal. To follow what Canopy are up to, visit their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Canopy/7778617518

Below, you’ll find a complete track list and the Bandcamp album stream. To download the album, visit the Heart of Gold Bandcamp page through this link:

http://davidgoldtribute.bandcamp.com/

‘Thrill Of The Struggle’ – CATUVOLCUS
‘Adora Vivos’ – Raphael from MUSK OX
‘Lightning And Snow’ – EARTHEN
‘Falling Apart’ – CANOPY
‘A Meeting Place And Time’ – PANZERFAUST
‘Finality’ – KUHRZARTH
‘The Sun Was In My Eyes’ – ANEMIC
‘Retrosleep In The Morning Calm’ – ALBIREON
‘Suicide Cargoload’ (live) – GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH
‘Career Suicide’ – RELIQUIS
‘Wet Leather’ – NOVEMBERS DOOM
‘Crossing The 45th Parallel’ – ECLIPSE ETERNAL
‘Allure Of The Earth’ – AMARANTH
‘The Shams Of Optimisim’ – PAGAN RITUAL
‘Silver’ – Joel Violette and Rae Amitay of WOODS OF YPRES / THRAWSUNBLAT
‘The Sea Of Immeasureable Loss’ – BEGOTTEN
‘Shedding The Deadwood’ – EMPYREAN PLAGUE
‘Trillium: The 3rd Of Three Winters’ – Justin Bender of INTO ETERNITY
‘The Looming Of Dust In The Dark’ – THE GOV AND CARVER