Reflective Depths Imbibe

With as many bands as there are playing within the metal umbrella, it is difficult to find bands that have a sound to themselves, let alone coming up with unique metal. The style of shred guitar is one such style which all too often seems to throw away thoughts of distinguishing oneself stylistically, instead aiming to wow the listener with an erudite knowledge of scales, theory, and the ability to ply fast enough to dislocate the Earth off its orbit. Windham Hell therefore comes as an oddity; in a style of music I have largely grown out of, they have done something with it that I would not have imagined; an avant-garde, experimental twist on shredding. There is still good reason why this band never met much of an audience during its time, but the unique sound here is certainly worth checking out what Windham Hell has to offer on 'Reflective Depths Imbibe'.

When I think of neoclassical shred metal, I typically think of artists like Yngwie Malmsteen; musicians whose skill and speed with the guitar are outweighed by their titanic egos, and this usually reflects greatly in, as well as deters from the musical product. Not much is known about Windham Hell's Leland Windham and fellow axeman Eric Friesen, but if the music on this third album is any indicator, it seems they have alot more on their minds than themselves. Neoclassical shredding (IE: playing scales faster than most people can play them) is a large part of the music here, but it is combined with a profound sense of atmosphere, one that might be even best identified with black metal. There are parts here where the counterpointing guitar lines sound like the work of an orchestral composer, and these two guitarists manage to play up to par with many shredders. Although labelled often as avant-garde metal, this is not so much experimental as it is taking existing elements and putting them together in a way that other artists have not really done before; it is the atmosphere that gives Windham Hell their unique vibe.

While this third album is much stronger than the debut 'South Facing Epitaph', there still seems to be something lacking in Windham Hell's sound. Maybe it is the amateurish feel or pounding drum machines, or even the fairly inconsistent level of quality in the music, but Windham Hell still seems to be coping with some issues, even on their last leg. I will say that when 'Reflective Depths Imbibe' is at its best, it touches the level of mastery. On the contrary, when it reaches its worst, it can get pretty painful, particularly the gloomy mixing of the drums and barely audible vocals- which are scarce enough as it is. Windham's best traits lie in the neoclassical arrangement, the sections where the music makes an effort to sound composed and classical. The shredding is well-done, but at this point for me, it runs thin very quickly. There are even a few thrashy moments here that don't do much for me.

Windham Hell's music sometimes verges on brilliance, but like the two albums before it, 'Reflective Depths Imbibe' suffers from a very patchy, inconsistent framework that tends to give me a rather mixed impression, rather than being able to call it a grand, or bland album. For what its worth, the excellence demonstrated in doses here is more than worth the parts where I was less convinced of the band's strength, although it does disappoint me to hear such potential greatness only feel partially realized in the end.

Since underground metal is divided, subdivided, and subdivided yet again into countless tiny substyles into which, it seems, virtually every release can be readily pigeonholed, it’s very nice to sit down and give a listen to a band that seems oblivious to all clichés. No label can be readily applied to this band; you haven’t heard a band that sounds anything like Windham Hell until you’ve heard Windham Hell. Honestly, how often can you honestly say that?

It would be accurate to say that this is a neoclassical guitar shred album. It would also be completely misleading. To tell the truth I can’t speak too definitively about shred albums because I avoid them like I would flesh-eating bacteria, but for me the phrase tends to recall poofy-haired power metal guitar demonstrations. This is as far away from that sort of nonsense as it possibly could be. For once, classically-inspired guitar solos sound like a means instead of an end, effectively conveying a sense of…immensity? Expansiveness? The images of snowcapped mountains in the liner notes seem appropriate, anyway. And the classical music influences bleed into the riffing as well, showing them to be an integral part of the music instead of a layer of processed cheese smeared over the top.

It would also be accurate to say that this is an avant-garde metal album. And again, it would be misleading. In metal, the term “avant-garde” carries a bit of baggage; I tend to associate it with misguided attempts to somehow legitimize the poor, slovenly metal genre by, for instance, combining black metal with Pink Floyd with trip-hop into a sonic abomination which seemingly exists only to flatter the pretensions of folks without sense enough to reject it. Windham Hell don’t carry that sort of attitude. There are ambient segments, acoustic segments, some synthesizers, even a bit of violin, but these elements live and breathe along with the rest of the music instead of merely calling attention to themselves. In short, they make sense.

For the most part, the music is instrumental, and the occasional death growls are barely-audible anyway, which frees up the band to go exploring without having to stay centered around a vocal pattern. This is perhaps both a strength and a weakness. If there’s a single major criticism to be leveled at Windham Hell, it’s that their songwriting tends to be less than catchy. Among the band’s original music on the album, there’s really only one definitively memorable song, that being the upbeat and hookish fifth track, “Cold Granite Bliss”; the band’s rendition of Mendelssohn’s “Saltarello Presto” at the end of the album is perfectly hummable as well, but of course I suppose we could’ve counted on that.

Beyond that, I suppose the songs could be taken either as abstractly structured or merely series of interesting experiments. Either way, they always succeed at achieving the intended atmosphere.

With that in mind, I’d say this album is best listened to as a whole, perhaps with a pair of headphones, so as to allow the apparent incongruities in the song structures to blend together and take on a surreal aspect greater than the sum of their parts. At any rate if you want to listen to something unusual but good you’ll want to check this band out.