Woe – Quiet, Undramatically (2010)

Featuring half of the Woods of Ypres lineup and everybody of The Green Evening Requiem, today we have Woe and their very impressive second full-length release “Quiet, Undramatically”. The now full band, delivers a crushing 43 minutes of Black Metal with melodic and emotional passages that will surely get a bunch of people yelling Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc, rip-offs.

While the band’s sound does have very little of the Agalloch, WitTR, melodic edge, they do have a hefty amount of aggressiveness and power to their sound, making them a very different band from what we are used to listening to from the Black Metal scene here in the USA. “Quiet, Undramatically” is a brilliant album that is both raw and aggressive, but it also has that certain elements of melody that makes you start ‘pseudo’ headbanging in your seat.

The main selling point of “Quiet, Undramatically” has to be the very diverse and effective guitar work, courtesy of the band’s mastermind Chris Grigg and G. Czapla. They manage to create very rich guitar sections that vary from the traditional tremolo-picking assaults to more melodic and rich structures that make the songs work flawlessly. Since the guitar work is rich, the overall thickness of the band’s sound is very dense, with blasting drums, and a powerful bass guitar line.

In songs like “The Road from Recovery”, the band shows the diversity they have incorporated into their sound, since this track does not sound like a full-on Black Metal song until you hear the hellish vocals and tremolo picking sections. A Similar thing happens with “Hatred is our Heart”. Here you can also notice some weird production issues, since the drumming sounds a bit funky and the mix is very linear, making the band’s sound a bit saturated at times, since you can properly hear the vocals in this last song.

Other songs like “Quietly, Undramatically”, will make this band one of your favorite ones due to the layers presented in them. Here is where the Agalloch, WitTR, influences show more since the pace of this song is very dynamic, always keeping you guessing what’s next. Clocking around 8 minutes, this track is for us our favorite of the album since it covers a wide range of emotions and influences. “Full Circle” is another long and good one in this release, showcasing the band’s abilities to write long and effective songs that carry different moods in them.

In general, we think is nice to hear some bands that are trying different things and somewhat avoiding sounding like the rest in their attempts to make good music. We feel that now that Woe is a full-time band, the music should take a different shape and be richer in terms of influences. Very recommendable release if you like richer and more varied Black Metal.

Release: October 12th, 2010

Country: USA