Woe - A Spell for the Death of Man (2008)

Woe – A Spell for the Death of Man (2008)
Ah, good ole nasty black metal. It brings a tear to me eye to hear those ice-cold, barbed wire guitars screech along with the horrified shrieks of misanthropy over pounding blastbeats. As of recently more and more American black metal bands have been coming out of the woodwork to add their own flair to this time-tested tradition that usually emanates from the frostbitten domain of Scandinavia. American black metal bands tend to have a distinct separation of themes and sounds that sets them apart from their European counterparts. This brings us to Woe, a one-man black metal act hailing from Philadelphia.
The leader and sole member of the band, Chris Grigg, (stage name “Xos”) plays all the instruments and performs vocals in studio. The first thing you’ll notice about this album is that unlike many of his fellow American black metallers, Griggs went for a more polished production style that does not obscure the sound of the music in walls of lo-fi haze. The second thing you’ll notice is that this guy knows how to play all of his instruments pretty damn well. The guitars are angular and buzzing, creating that razorblade sharp sound that’s so important in black metal. The riffs on this album alternate from being atmospheric and dissonant to well… pretty damn catchy. In many one-man black metal bands the drums are either programmed (something which is very hit or miss) or played poorly by a musician who is more familiar with guitar or some other instrument. This is not so with this album. Xos plays the drums with the talent of a full-time black metal drummer, blasting with the best of them. He occasionally drums in a style that is very comparable with the work that many hardcore punk drummers play. That brings up another interesting fact about this album: it has some hardcore punk and *gasp* dare I say it…screamo elements.
Now I know what many of you trve black metal fans are saying, “well you had me and then you lost me with the emo bullshit”. It should be kept in mind that I’m not referring to garbage like From First to Last or something when I say screamo. Think more along the lines of those truly intense and brutal screamo bands like Orchid. Xos utilizes the traditional black metal shriek at most times, his sounding somewhat like a more powerful and slightly lower pitched Ihsahn, but also employs a desperate howl that you might find in a band of the aforementioned screamo style. It’s not whiny at all, just clearly filled with pure despair and is clearer in tone than his black metal vocals. He also double-tracks his vocals at some points to combine low-end grunts with his usually raspy yells.
A Spell for the Death of Man manages to sound familiar to those well-acquainted with bands such as Krallice, or Cobalt, but adds interesting unique elements into the sound to make it entirely unique. The songs go through many different twists and turns, but all in all they do have a tendency to sound relatively similar to one another. This is not such a big deal when you realize that the formula used for these songs is fucking awesome and that the album is only 43 minutes in length, which doesn’t give it a chance to really stagnate. While this album is not going reset the standards in all of black metal (like any album will do that) or sound like something completely unheard of, it is extremely solid and I can’t see why any black metal fan couldn’t get down with it. Highly recommended from this grim and frostbitten individual.
4.5 out of 5
Tracklist:
1. Solitude
2. Alone With Our Failures
3. Longing Is All That Will Remain
4. Condemned as Prey
5. I See No Civilization
6. Wake In Mourning
7. Memento Mori