With a history like that, it’s hard to fail one might say. And right that statement is, for this record is filled with some of the finest doom metal, postcore and space-drone known to man. Extremely atmospheric with both the crushing heavy and more mellow passages, this record drifts by like a boat on an ocean. The drone-like intermezzos increase this feeling even more. Yet the overall production is of such splendid quality, it is impossible to lose attention.

 

The bio informs me that Graham based the lyrics off the subject of bog bodies - well-preserved human remains dating back to the Celtic Iron Age of persons violently dispensed by being submerged in acidic peat bogs. Therefore the vocals go through various stages of grief, which means they express emotions like denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance by shifting between the appropriate vocal sounds. These emotions come forward more and more as you play the album repeatedly. Of course, these emotions perfectly fit the dark and depressing sound of the music itself, making A Storm Of Light a big competitor in the postcore/doom metal scene.

 

Even better news is that Unsane drummer Vincent Signorelli has signed up with the band as a second drummer, so they must pack one hell of a live show by now. They’re coming to the Netherlands in September, so I’m bound to find out. As for the rest, I can conclude that And We Wept The Black Ocean Within is a brilliant debut from A Storm Of Light, fit for fans of bands like Neurosis, Cult Of Luna, Crime & The City Solution and even Sunn 0))).