Ahab Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

AHAB: “THE CORAL TOMBS”

Feb 092023

(Ahab rose again from the watery depths with a new album that was released last month by Napalm Records, and today we follow that up with a review of the album by our Sacramento-based writer DGR.)

Turns out that when a solid chunk of your region spends the first three weeks of the year under flash flood warnings and with one of its main highways effectively underwater, leading to some very dramatic New Year’s photos that aren’t too far from your house, it’s hard to keep your thoughts cogent around a nautical-doom album, no matter the quality. Who knew? Apologies to Ahab on that one.

It is wild to think about just how large the gap was between albums for Germany’s underwater-doom specializers. You never would’ve figured that a band who had a pretty solid track record of new releases every three or so years would suddenly see a near-eight-year gap between albums, but alas, to keep things succinct, it had been a sizeable wait for the group’s newest album The Coral Tombs – with only live albums and collections in between to keep people interested. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: AHAB

Interviews 1 Response »

Dec 062022

Photo by Stefan Heileman

(At last the leviathan Ahab has risen again from the watery depths with a new album that will be released by Napalm Records on January 13th, and we are most happy today to present Comrade Aleks‘ extensive interview with Ahab co-founder Daniel Dorste.)

It’s hard to believe but Ahab was founded 18 years ago. Back then the trio from Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg consisting of Daniel Dorste (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Christian Hector (guitars) and Stephan Adolph (bass) tried to make funeral doom a bit more exciting and added strong nautical lines in their lyrics and, partly, in their music. So naturally their first album The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006) based on Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby Dick was labelled as “nautical doom”.

Ahab strengthened their positions with the second album The Divinity of Oceans (2009), retelling this time the true story of the Whale-Ship Essex, which in November 1820 was sunk in an attack by a sperm whale before the men resorted to cannibalism in order to survive. Such a grim fate… and yet you can’t play funeral doom and develop the same theme eternally, and so the band turned in a more progressive and atmospheric direction with the next album The Giant (2012).

This time Ahab adapted the mysterious novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket written by Edgar Allan Poe, and the plot itself demanded another approach. The Boats of the Glen Carrig (2015) took the band even further to the shores unknown just as it was in William Hope Hodgson‘s novel of the same name.

But then the band sunk to the bottom of the sonic ocean just like some weird fantastic submarine. Seven years have passed and Ahab now returns with The Coral Tombs album, which will see the light of day on the 13th of January through Napalm Records. The band’s sound seems to adopt new influences, even as Ahab’s crew has remained the same since 2008: the band’s founders Christian and Daniel, Cornelius Althammer (drums), and Stephan Wandernoth (bass). It is Daniel who joined our discussion. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (THE “BIG NAME” EDITION): OBITUARY, AHAB, DEVIN TOWNSEND, HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, AT THE GATES

Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC No Responses »

Nov 112022

At this site we spend much more of our time trying to unearth underground gems and to push rising stars whose music deserves a push than we do acclaiming bands who are already household names, with big labels and robust PR machineries behind them. That’s not “virtue signaling”, it’s just a fact.

Does this mean we’re elitists who turn up our noses at the music of “big names”? Not at all. Though we pride ourselves on not fawning over those names even when they trip and release music that’s more likely to provoke yawns than excitement, we’re not immune to their allure — after all, most of them got big for a reason, and some are capable of reminding us why, at least until the well of inspiration runs dry.

It so happens that this week produced new songs and videos from a lot of big names, some of whom are returning after long absences. I’ve collected five of them in this round-up. It kind of clears the way for me to spend tomorrow focusing exclusively on names more obscure. Be forewarned: there’s lots of singing here today.

OBITUARY (U.S.)

Six years after the release of their last (self-titled) album Obituary will be releasing a new one in January named Dying of Everything. Founders John and Donald Tardy and Trevor Peres are still in harness, and bassist Terry Butler and lead guitarist Kenny Andrews are back for another round too. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HIGH FIGHTER (MONA MILUSKI)

Interviews 2 Responses »

Oct 132015

photo © by Frau Siemers Fotografiert

(We present Comrade Aleks’ interview with Mona Miluski, vocalist for Germany’s High Fighter.)

High Fighter is a fresh sludgy formation from Germany. Just a year ago the band recorded their first EP under sacramental title The Goat Ritual, and take a look – they’re already going on tour with Ahab in October! If you’re ready for an intransigent sludge attack then check our interview with Mona Miluski, High Fighter frontwoman.

******

Hail Mona! How are you there? I’d like to ask you to shed some light on High Fighter’s origin, so I hope that you have nothing against a few questions about it.

Absolutely not, keep them coming. Thanks for having us on No Clean Singing. Continue reading »

KEVINP’S ALBUMS OF THE MONTH — AUGUST 2015

Listmania 9 Responses »

Aug 312015

(Here’s the latest installment of KevinP’s series in which he runs down his list of the best releases from the preceding month.)

August was been absolutely stacked with quality releases, which caused me to make a few hard choices (i.e., cuts). A few albums worth your time that didn’t make the list were from: Krisiun, Ogotay, and Sources of I. Also, I went back and forth on the ranking between numbers 2-5, and really, depending on my mood, I could change them up, that’s how much I enjoyed all of them. This month’s numero uno though was head and shoulders above the rest, and released by a perennial NCS favorite.

5. Creeping – Revenant

This is the third full-length by this New Zealand trio and the first one I’ve heard by them. Why exactly are these kiwis not more well known? That kinda baffles me. Black doom with a healthy dose of death metal goodness thrown into the mixture. It’s grimy, it’s dark, and it’s just a visciously good album. Continue reading »

AHAB: “THE BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG”

Album Reviews 6 Responses »

Aug 282015

(In this post Grant Skelton reviews the new album by Germany’s Ahab.)

I am someone who is relatively new to the Ahab fold. NCS reader blend77 recommended the band to me last year when I was just beginning my descent into the subterranean mausoleum of doom metal lore. Ahab’s 2006 debut The Call Of The Wretched Sea remains their crowning achievement in the minds of many. Nevertheless, I began my exploration of their music with The Giant, the band’s third album released in 2012. From there, I worked my way backward to their 2009 offering The Divinity Of Oceans. I finished with The Call…, which I mentioned above.

Ahab loyalists are aware of the band’s devotion to nautical and marine literature. But if you’re new to Ahab, then you might like to know that their albums are each based on books relating to the ocean. As a writer, this fact immediately enticed me about the band’s music. You see, sometimes metal is like a Z-grade horror film. Sometimes you just want to lay back on your couch, turn on the television, and zone out. You’ve got your trusty go-to food-and-beverage combo while you’re enamored by Transdimensional Transgendered Zombies From Planet Squiddleboxtoastmeat or some other nugget of modern cinematic camp. Plenty of metal bands cater to that particular appetite and I’ve enjoyed my share.

But Ahab needs to be absorbed and mulled over. You certainly can listen to them passively as background noise. But to do so results in an insipid listening experience. That would cause you to miss out on all that Ahab have to offer, particularly on their new album The Boats Of The Glen Carrig. It is an album that must be plunged into headfirst without hesitation. You must follow them on their descent into aquatic oblivion, much like the fate of their namesake. The further down you go, the less you will see. The less you see, the more you will find. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ÆVANGELIST, AHAB, BLACKOSH

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 8 Responses »

Aug 142015

I’m again backlogged with new music that I haven’t had a chance to send your way this week. I’m hoping I’ll have time this weekend to compile a few more collections, but to make a start here are three new songs that I hope you’ll make time to hear.

ÆVANGELIST

Yesterday the void-faring Ævangelist entity released a head-spinning 14-minute track on Bandcamp. Entitled “Abstract Catharsis”, it was originally recorded in 2013 for a four-way split that never came to fruition, and as far as I can tell, it hasn’t previously been made available for listening.

Those who are familiar with Ævangelist already know that no two of their releases (or, for that matter, individual songs) sound completely alike. “Abstract Catharsis” preserves the overarching otherworldly ambience and predatory ferocity of much of the band’s sound, but this one incorporates a lot of other different and very interesting elements. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DANIEL DROSTE (AHAB)

Interviews 3 Responses »

Aug 042015

(We are pleased to present Grant Skelton’s interview with Ahab’s vocalist/guitarist Daniel Droste.)

I recently had an opportunity to interview Daniel Droste of German nautik doom band Ahab. We talked in detail about the band’s upcoming album The Boats Of The Glen Carrig, the difficulties of band life and touring while holding a full-time job, and whether or not the band has plans for future shows in the US.

Stream the interview below via Soundcloud, presented by Local X Radio (localxradio.com). Thanks to Mona and Claudia at Napalm Records and also to Jon at Freeman Promotions for arranging the interview! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AHAB, NILE, HIVELORDS, RUSSKAJA

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 7 Responses »

Jul 252015

I didn’t do a very good job this past week posting about new songs that I liked as they were coming out, and as a result I have a big collection of them gazing up at me with sorrowful eyes. I’ve picked four of them to recommend in this post, with the goal of keeping you off-balance. I’ve collected a few others for a “Shades of Black” post that I’m planning for tomorrow.

AHAB

A couple of days ago Germany’s Ahab premiered a music video for the first complete track off their new album The Boats of Glen Carrig, coming from Napalm Records on August 28. The name of the song is “Like Red Foam (The Great Storm)”, and I’m thoroughly hooked on it. The riffs are enormous, and they drive the song’s bleak, somewhat dissonant melodic refrain into your head like railroad spikes. I’m more a fan of the enraged roars than the clean vocals in the song (what a shock!), but it’s a minor quibble. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: AHAB, FALSE, FUCK THE FACTS, GORGOROTH

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 9 Responses »

May 292015

I’m getting a late start on the blog this morning. I spent hours on the phone with world leaders attempting to answer their urgent questions about an array of socio-economic and security crises. After a while I got tired of it and just started repeating a convenient mantra, “FUCK THE FACTS”.

AHAB

That album art up there is fucking fantastic. I have very high hopes for the album, too, which is the first one from German’s Ahab in four years. The title is The Boats of The Glen Carrig and it’s a musical interpretation of a 1907 horror novel of the same name written by William Hope Hodgson (more info about the book can be found here). Continue reading »

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