In the Woods... - Pure (2016)^{Release ID: 2667}

Norway's In the Woods... originally split in 2000 after releasing three albums that saw them move away from the atmospheric black metal of their critically acclaimed debut, HEart of the Ages, in a more progressive direction that dabbled in the avant-garde. Reforming in 2014, Pure marks their comeback in grand style. Whilst it is also considered as another progressive metal release, Pure moves away from the more avant-garde aspects of the previous works, including ditching the dual male/female vocals found on both Omnio and Strange in Stereo and incorporating far more from gothic and doom metal. This makes for a less ambitious-sounding release, but comparing this with an album like Strange in Stereo is a little like comparing apples and oranges in that they are separate entities distinct from each other, both with their own merits and may as well be by different bands and as such comparing the two iterations of the band is a futile exercise.

As anyone who is familiar with my taste knows, the shift into a more doomy direction is something that is always going to find favour with me. To be clear, though, this isn't a doom metal album as such, it certainly deserves it's progressive metal tagging, but the generally slow- to medium-paced tempos, downtuned guitar and heavy bottom end provided by the robust production, when coupled with James Fogarty's languid vocal style and clear, ringing lead guitar work sets Pure firmly within the gothic metal territory inhabited by the likes of mid- to late-era Paradise Lost. The songs are tightly written, featuring some wonderful and memorable melodies and there are some nice touches, such as the subtle use of keyboards, especially when they reference a psychedelic Hammond organ sound on a couple of tracks, "This Dark Dream" seeing them used to greatest effect and the space rock atmospherics of "Transmission KRS" are one of my album highlights. In fact the psychedelic / space rock connection is such that there is even a point where I could swear the track "Cult of Shining Stars" directly references the riff and melody from Hawkwind's classic from Warriors on the Edge of Time, "Magnu". The performances are terrific, all the members seeming very confident in their own ability to deliver exactly what they envisioned conceptually and the production is beefy, yet retains excellent clarity allowing each member's contributions to be heard.

The first forty minutes are great, but for me, things get even better for the final three tracks when the band are joined by Green Carnation guitarist and long-time collaborator Bjørn Harstad. His guitar work is exceptional here with some truly sublime soloing, the previously referenced, ten-minute instrumental, "Transmission KRS" being an extended showcase of this and his solo towards the end of closing track, "Mystery of the Constellations" is almost up there with Dave Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" for sheer soaring magnificence.

Of course, because of the modern internet-led obsession with experimentation and the ever-frantic search of metal fans for innovation, Pure's trading of the band's previous "avant-garde" work for well-crafted and performed songs with more traditional structures saw a number of fans bemoaning this turn of events. Well, more fools them, because this is an absolute top-drawer doomy prog metal release that, just sheer quality-wise, brings to mind post-Isa Enslaved and it's incomprehensible to me that a release of such quality could be considered a backward step.