Maudlin Of The Well - Bath 2 x vinyl lps (due to size and weight, this price for the USA only. Outside of the USA, the price will be adjusted as needed)
SKU
Antithetic 008
Before there was Kayo Dot, Toby Driver had the much more metal - but just as creative in a different way - Maudlin of the Well. Their albums have been out of print for many years, but here is their 2nd and 3rd releases - both companions to each other - in a beautiul, high quality vinyl edition.
"Bath was the album that really solidified Maudlin of the Well's place in the metal universe. Their debut, "My Fruit Psychobells", showed a band with tremendous potential, but it was here that that potential was fully realized. Like its companion album, "Leaving Your Body Map", "Bath" is an album of contrasts. Listen to the gentle, lilting acoustics of "Geography" and "Marid's Gift of Art", and the almost straight-up death metal of "They Aren't All Beautiful", and it's really hard to believe it's the same band (and especially the same guy singing). Then you add to that the ambient jazzy instrumental "Blue Ghost/Shedding Qlipthoth" and the sprawling progressive metal epics "Girl with a Watering Can" and "Birth Pains of Astral Projection", and you'll see that these guys had a seemingly bottomless well (no pun intended) of inspiration. I don't quite believe in the whole "bringing music in from different dimensions" thing, but they certainly had a sound that is otherworldly. Also notable is the epic "Heaven and Weak", where they brilliantly exemplify their diversity in one 8-minute song. It starts off soft and gentle, with a sort of jazzy indie pop feel, finally building into raging metal, wherein Toby Driver's melodious voice escalates into a vicious sneer that brings Devin Townsend to mind. There's also the equally eclectic "The Ferryman", which goes from haunting church organs to sludgy death metal grooves to soaring female vocals. Interspersed with the tracks are sounds of water sloshing, which reinforces the sort of cleansing motif that the album's title suggests. Overall, this album feels a bit more spacy and laid-back than LYBM, with the exception of "They Aren't All Beautiful", which is easily one of their heaviest songs. "Birth Pains.." and "Watering Can" are both full of enveloping melodies and huge guitar solos, occasionally building into heavy crescendoes. Imagine if Opeth ventured into trippier acid rock territory, and you have some idea. So what I'm really trying to say here is that this album is really amazing. Absolutely one of the finest albums I've ever heard. It's so unfortunate that these guys got so little recognition for their amazing talent. This and the other two MotW albums are definite must-haves."