UMUR "The Divinity of Oceans" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German doom/death metal act Ahab. The album was released through Napalm records in July 2009. It´s the successor to "The Call of the Wretched Sea" from 2006. The latter is a concept album telling the story of the hunt of the great white whale "Moby Dick" (Herman Melville´s novel from 1851). The fascination of stories of the ocean is continued on "The Divinity of Oceans", which is another aquatic themed concept release. This time telling the real life story of "The Essex", an American whaler from Nantucket, Massachusetts, which was sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. A real life event which inspired Melville to write his novel. So there is definitely some conceptual continuity at play here in terms of themes.

The story is quite dark and bizarre, and definitely fit for a metal album, as the surviving men had to abandon the shipwreck of the Essex and sail around 4.000 miles in small whaling boats, with little fresh water and food. The men died one by one of starvation and thirst, and the remaining men had to cannibalize the corpses to survive. It even came to the situation being so dire, that they had to draw lots, to determine which of the still living men had to be sacrificed for the others to eat. Yes real life horrors perfectly suited for a death/doom metal release.

Stylistically the material on "The Divinity of Oceans" continue the slow, doomy and crushingly heavy death/doom metal style of "The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006)". Ahab have honed their songwriting craft and playing skills since the debut album though, and the riffs are generally stronger and the tracks more varied and dynamic than before. The main vocal style on the album are deep unintelligible growling, but there are several sections featuring clean vocals on the album too, and they work very well, providing an extra melancholic atmosphere. Atmospheric is actually the primary word I´d use to describe "The Divinity of Oceans". It´s both an ultra heavy and at time pretty brutal and dark release, but above all it´s atmospheric and succeeds in painting pictures in the listeners mind of the desperation of the shipwrecked sailors.

As with most releases in the most slow building and slow paced part of the doom metal genre (what many people refer to as funeral doom), it takes patience and the right mood to sit through an album like "The Divinity of Oceans". To take in the massive doses of heaviness but also to savor and appreciate the more mellow and melancholic atmospheric sections. To give the artist the time to tell their story.

"The Divinity of Oceans" features a heavy, dark, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion it´s a high quality sophomore album by Ahab and to my ears a step up in quality from the otherwise great debut album. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved (and may even be a little too conservative. I can highly recommend this album).

UMUR "The Call of the Wretched Sea" is the debut full-length studio album by German doom/death metal act Ahab. The album was released through Napalm Records in September 2006. Ahab were formed in 2004 and released a demo EP that same year titled "The Oath" (re-released in 2007). The two EP tracks "The Hunt" and "Ahab's Oath", were re-written and re-recorded for "The Call of the Wretched Sea". Ahab have taken their name from the captain of the Pequod, who is the obsessed whaler hunting the great white whale Moby Dick in Herman Melville´s novel from 1851. "The Call of the Wretched Sea" is a concept release telling the story of Moby Dick.

Stylistically the material on the 7 track, 67:32 minutes long album are atmospheric doom/death metal played at a slow pace (usually refered to as funeral doom). It´s dark, it´s crushingly heavy and the abysmal deep and unintelligible growling vocals are brutal and eerie (the band occasionally use other types of vocals, but the growls are the dominant vocal style on the album), but there is a bit more to "The Call of the Wretched Sea" than that. Ahab successfully incorporate atmospheric post-metal traits and soaring lead guitar melodies, which ensure variation and entertainment value throughout the album. It never becomes just repetitive riffs and rhythms, as Ahab always come up with something either surprising or interesting to break any possible monotony. The creative songwriting is one of the great strengths of the album and Ahab deserve praise for their adventurous approach to composing.

"The Call of the Wretched Sea" features a dark, organic, and heavy sound production, which suits the material perfectly. The often multi-layered soundscape works fine and all details are audible, even though the sound production is pretty raw. So upon conclusion "The Call of the Wretched Sea" is a high quality debut album by Ahab. It´s an album which may require a couple of spins to sink in although it´s obvious from the first listen that this is something special, but it´s also an album which is equally rewarding in the long run, as the listener will find new details and atmospheres to investigate with each listen. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Warthur The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" is another Ahab album which, true to their name, draws inspiration from a seafaring novel - in this case, a horror story by William Hope Hodgson, whose death in World War I robbed the world of one of the more bizarre imaginations working in genre fiction at that time.

Since their funeral doom-oriented debut, Ahab had apparently transitioned into a death-doom style, which here is set against quieter, more reflective moments in which the harsh, metal-oriented riffs stop - a sort of blend of death-doom and progressive rock ideas which could see the band eventually evolving in an Opeth-like direction if they chose to plot that course. Here, these interludes offer just enough variety to avoid the album becoming tedious.

Warthur This is the debut album by the German funeral doom outfit Ahab, and as you might guess from their name and the title it's a Moby Dick-inspired piece. Drawing heavily on the similarly-themed demo The Oath - The Hunt and Ahab's Oath are rerecorded tracks from there - it showcases a group with a delicate and nuanced understanding of their chosen subgenre, who are able to add their own twists and turns to the funeral doom metal formula and refresh it. Daniel Droste, in particular, is a star player on the album for his light but significant use of keyboards - check out that mournful droning organ tone that the album kicks off with and which excellently sets the atmosphere.

UMUR "The Oath" is an EP release by German doom metal act Ahab. The EP was originally self-released in 2004 on CDr format and later through Deviant Records in January 2007. The latter release is limited to 150 handnumbered 12" vinyls. So "The Oath" is basically a demo that has later been reissued as an EP.

There´s not much demo quality about this release though. It´s professionally recorded and while it´s not polished it features a suiting gloomy atmospheric production to go along with the band´s brand of ultra heavy and atmospheric funeral doom. The sound production suits the music and visa versa. The music features very heavy beats, heavy riffing (pretty intricate at times and often using harmonies), atmosperic keyboards, and deep unintelligible growling vocals (and occasionally chanting clean vocals). The tracks are cleverly composed, which is where the band really excel. They are also skilled musicians, but if the material aren´t well written, that´s usually of little use. "The Oath" features four tracks and a full playing time of 35:22 minutes. "The Hunt" and "Ahab´s Oath" would, in re-recorded versions, make it unto Ahab´s debut full-length studio album "The Call Of The Wretched Sea (2006)", while "The Stream" and the short outro track are both exclusive to this release.

"The Oath" is what I´d call a very promising first release by Ahab. A release where their fascination with Moby-Dick (the 1851 novel by Herman Melville) and the ocean in general are initiated along with their brand of atmosperic funeral doom metal. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.