maudlin of the Well: Part the Second

Produced by Toby Driver
Released: May 2009

maudlin of the Well existed within a small niche of the heavy metal universe occupied by a very few: In the Woods... and Agalloch being two of the others. Their 2001 twin albums Bath and Leaving Your Body Map were experimental volumes that combined a wildly eclectic range of styles under the umbrella of the band's self-declared "astral metal" -- basically music created during experiments with astral projection, given emphasis by Jason Byron's dream-like lyrics. In 2003 the band split up after Byron left and Toby Driver formed Kayo Dot with three or four of the others (motW had up to nine members at that point). That band was/is essentially maudlin of the Well with all the aggressive metal aspects excised--the blast beats, the harsh vocals, the tremolo picking and the doom riffs--and the "astral" songwriting element replaced by a sort of abstract stream-of-consciousness approach. So, more or less the same thing only without the metal or the New Age woo-wooery. A year or so back, some motW fans got together and put up the dollars for Driver and some of his former bandmates to restore and record a bunch of early tracks that had never been released. This spectacular act of musical socialism allowed Part the Second to be released as a free download from the band's website.

And what a piece of work it is. Part the Second is five tracks of progressive chill-out music that sprawls majestically across almost 46 minutes. With none of the harsher, heavier metal sections of motW, this feels more like an early Kayo Dot release and logically bridges the gap between both bands. The epically titled first track "An Excerpt from 6,000,000,000,000 Miles Before the First, or, the Revisitation of the Blue Ghost" is an elaborate musical saga almost 12 minutes in duration that fuses 70s-style prog with post-rock elements, a diverse array of acoustic and non-rock instruments and whispery lead vocals. The next song opens on bells and vibes in the dreamlike tapestry of an avant-garde film soundtrack, becoming even stranger with the injection of violins later on. Strings and piano dominate "Rose Quartz Turning to Glass" which also features some interesting vocals.

Part the Second leaves its greatest treasures until the final track, "Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder)", which swells into a glorious extended guitar solo about halfway through that is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's more transcendental moments. This is perhaps the most maudlin-like track on the album and a final confirmation on just how great this band was. That Part the Second lacks motW's more extreme musical elements is only slightly disappointing as it was the precise juxtaposition of the various styles that made the band's music so special; however, even without them this is an exceptional album of fluid musical experimentation and dexterity. And it's free, so you lose nothing by checking it out.

1. Excerpt from 6,000,000,000,000 Miles Before the First, or, the Revisitation of the Blue Ghost
2. Another Excerpt: Keep Light Near You, Even When Dying
3. Rose Quartz Turning to Glass
4. Clover Garland Island
5. Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder)

Rating: 95%

maudlin of the WELL: Bath/Leaving Your Body Map

Released: 2001

maudlin of the Well was a group that was able to take all of the various aspects of modern music and weave them into a fragile tapestry of sounds and textures. Bath and Leaving Your Body Map was a double-release from the amazing nine-piece band, whose style was perhaps best described by their own definition of "astral metal", a kind of progressive ambient doom death that at times came close to that of Opeth with shades of My Dying Bride and diISEMBOWELMENT, but also really unlike any of them.

As companion volumes that were released together, it would be nigh on impossible to review them separately, and as it is each of them flow into one another like the waters of two streams forging a river. The gentler strains of Bath build a complex and enchanting kaleidoscope of delicately interwoven techniques and sounds that takes the listener on the first part of a transcendental musical voyage of emotion and introspection. Leaving Your Body Map is darker and heavier, but not without its own ethereal moments and without ever once losing sight of maudlin of the Well's vision of incredible musical beauty.

Delicately balancing all of their instrumental and vocal parts, maudlin of the Well is one moment heavy and blasting with double-time double-kicks and grim vocals, and the next enchanting acoustic melancholia, easing through snatches of swing, jazz and melodic electric guitar and trancy instrumentals with symbols for names before stepping out into crushing extremity once again.

These are possibly two of the finest albums of progressive metal to have ever seen the light. maudlin of the Well was a truly innovative and amazing musical entity that fully explored every facet of their ingenuity with brilliant results. Shortly after these albums were released, about half the group formed Kayo Dot, a band that now contains only Toby Driver from this line-up, and has moved almost completely away from metal altogether.

Bath:

1. The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth
2. They Aren't All Beautiful
3. Heaven and Weak
4. Interlude
5. The Ferryman
6. Marid's Gift of Art
7. Girl With a Watering Can
8. Birth Pains of Astral Projection
9. Interlude
10. Geography

Leaving My Body Map:

1. Stones Of October's Sobbing
2. Gleam in Ranks
3. Bizarre Flowers/A Violent Mist
4. Interlude
5. The Curve That to an Angle Turn'd
6. Sleep is a Curse
7. Riseth He, the Numberless
8. Interlude
9. Monstrously Low Tide

Rating: 96%