Woods of Ypres have always been one of my favourite bands. They remained during their lifetime an obscure band where no one heard of. That all changed when the lead singer, David Gold, died on june 8th 2011 when they were releasing their last album “Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light”.
It is not a fun album
Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light is the fourth studio album as well as the fifth and final studio release from Woods of Ypres. It was recorded in August 2011 at Beach Road Studios with Siegfried Meier in Goderich, Ontario, and released the following year through Earache Records.
Tracklist :
| 1. | “Lightning & Snow” | 04:41 |
| 2. | “Death Is Not An Exit” | 05:10 |
| 3. | “Keeper Of The Ledger” | 06:05 |
| 4. | “Traveling Alone” | 05:04 |
| 5. | “Adora Vivos” | 05:42 |
| 6. | “Silver” | 04:49 |
| 7. | “Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide)” | 03:44 |
| 8. | “Modern Life Architecture” | 07:21 |
| 9. | “Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)” | 10:53 |
| 10. | “Finality” | 03:55 |
| 11. | “Alternate Ending” | 04:28 |
But authentic to the bone
Most people consider this album the best of Woods of Ypres. It is there somewhat sad that, while preparing to tour with the band for the promotion of the new album, the larger audiences only fell for this album right after his death.
The lyrics are also somewhat prophetic. Most criticism about David Golds lyrics is that they are too straight forward and that he expresses his feelings and emotions directly without metaphores and other stylish elements. But when you hear in “Alternate Ending” him saying at 1:05 “back on the highway, under the moon, my final moments, still wondering about you…” this becomes quite awkward and scary.
