That's Unheard Of!

On Dec. 1, 2011, Woods of Ypres frontman and principal songwriter David Gold was killed in a car accident near Barrie in his native Ontario. He was 31.

In April, Earache Records will release the darkest Woods of Ypres LP yet, “Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light.” The album was recorded late last August and contains the last music Gold committed to tape.

I’m not superstitious, but there’s something eerily prophetic about “Woods 5.”

At the surface level, there are the usual doom metal tropes embodied in songs like “Death Is Not an Exit,” “Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)” and “Finality” and the cackling macabre of rousing opener “Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide).” But there’s also “Travelling Alone,” an ode to feeling lost in society, coincidentally titled for what Gold was doing when he was killed, as well as lyrics on “Alternate Ending” like “Back on the highway, under the moon/My final moments, still wondering about you.”

There’s no reason to believe David Gold saw his car accident coming, but his death does serve to make “Woods 5” more powerful. It’s one of the fundamental moral problems that arises whenever any album is released posthumously.

I liked past Woods of Ypres material, but nothing they did prior resonated as strongly with me as “Woods 5,” and I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that David Gold is dead. This is inherently difficult to stomach. It means that, had a 31-year-old man not been unexpectedly killed, a great album would have potentially gone under my radar, and had I heard it, I might not have liked it nearly as much as I do.

Some solace can be taken in the fact that, for now, the Woods of Ypres moniker remains entirely Gold’s own. “Woods 5” was recorded and produced months before his passing, with only the finishing touches on the album art completed after his death.

The legacies of too many dead young musicians have been tarnished by enterprising Johnny-come-latelies meddling with unfinished recordings; Tupac’s estate has released more albums in death than he did when he was alive. Even Mozart’s “Requiem” was finished by some dude called Franz Xaver Süssmayr. It’s an unglamorous way to go out.

A quote by Gold’s surviving Woods of Ypres bandmate Joel Violette is disturbing, despite its good intentions: “In the last year or so, David and I planned out many projects for Woods of Ypres in great detail. It would be a shame for none of them to come to fruition, and David would have wanted his fans to hear them.”

Anytime someone makes the argument that a dead person “would have wanted” something, it’s best to remain skeptical. Let’s hope Violette remains respectful of Gold’s memory as he decides whether these musical projects see the light of day and in what capacity. Until then, “Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light” belongs in the very small canon of essential posthumous albums. Enjoy it, and try to feel guiltless about
enjoying it.

And rest in peace, Mr. Gold.