Ahab: The Giant – new album

“AHAB braves the seas for a third time to deliver their unique brand of “nautik” doom metal to their fans and draw them down into the depths of the ocean and the human psyche.  While the band's previous releases took on Herman Melville's “Moby Dick”, as well as the tragic fate of the crew on the whaling vessel “Essex”, they now turn to Edgar Allan Poe's solitary novel “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket” for inspiration.  The story comes to life within the musical confines of ‘The Giant’.  The songs are long in duration and turn into miniature epic tales embellished by hypnotic and heavy doom riffs, brutal vocals, but also melodic moments that include clean vocal interludes.  Those who chose to dive into this monolithic album will surely be rewarded with an extraordinary musical experience that will further confirm the band's top status,” [the press release says it all]

AHAB's third full-length ‘The Giant’, which features guest appearance by ENSLAVED keyboarder and singer Herbrand Larsen, is out now, June 25th, 2012, on Napalm Records. Listen to the title-track below and then sail the Seven Seas with AHAB and their new music which you can buy here (Napalm Records), and/or join the AHAB crew here (AHAB store). ‘The Giant’s beautiful artwork was created by Sebastian Jerke:

AHAB: The Giant – courtesy of AhabDoom

Formed in 2004 by guitarists Daniel Droste (PENETRALIA), Christian Hector (MIDNATTSOL) and Stephan Adolph (ex-ENDZEIT), AHAB, named after “Captain Ahab”, a character in Herman Melville's “Moby Dick”, recorded their first demo, ‘The Oath’, in 2005 with ten session drummer  Cornelius Althammer. In 2006, the band issued their formidable debut album ‘The Call Of The Wretched Sea’ through Napalm Records/Deviant Records; it was recorded by AHAB bassist Stephan Adolph at SAD Studio:

“… [the album's] meticulously assembled husks of words and music (plus, in terms of pure heaviness, this leviathan makes MASTODON's sound as light as a sparrow!). The titanic tandem of ‘Below The Sun’ and ‘The Pacific’ steers listeners away from port, and casts them directly down into the darkest ocean abyss with slothful, somber synthesizer melodies, cataclysmic downtuned guitar waves, and echoing percussive thunders. These provide a formidable frame for lyrics frequently adapted directly from Melville's writings and delivered in an impossibly deep, guttural vocal style that sounds as though it was performed by Moby Dick himself - har-har! But it’s surprisingly clean-droned baritones substituting these rumblings on ‘Old Thunder’ which features an unusually uplifting, orchestrated central portion, bridged by an atmospheric interlude called ‘Of The Monstrous Pictures Of Whales’ to yet another colossal epic in ‘The Sermon’, itself boasting a shimmering central passage of near-silent melodic ripples that temporarily interrupt the album's prevalent, monolithic guitar grinds. ‘The Call Of The Wretched Sea’ subsequently achieves a dual climax via ‘The Hunt’ and ‘Ahab's Oath’, both of which are marked by keening, rather infectious melodies, but which still leave the listener feeling as if crushed under the pressure untold fathoms,” [was inspired Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic – more here:]

AHAB: The Hunt – courtesy of AhabDoom

2009's ‘The Divinity Of Oceans’, produced by the band's drummer Cornelius Althammer, featured new bassist Stephan Wandernoth. This time, the group's songwriter Daniel Droste  immersed himself into the tragedy of the “Whaleship Essex”:

“The music juxtaposes huge riffs with delicate keyboards, chimes, etc., creating a dynamic that's more interesting than the usual chest-beating and despair-wallowing. Furthermore, AHAB's willingness to punish the listener at length - four of this album's seven tracks pass the ten-minute mark with ease - add to the feeling of rolling endlessness inspired by the ocean. This album is artier than one might expect, and worth the attention of listeners outside the doom metal cult,” [commented Phil Freeman, AllMusic – more here:]

AHAB: The Divinity Of Oceans – courtesy of AhabDoom

AHAB features: Daniel Droste – guitar and vocals, Christian Hector – guitar, Stephan Wandernoth – bass and Cornelius Althammer - drums