Uncle Woe - Well (EP Review)

Release Date: 20th December 2023. Record Label: Owl Ripper Recordings. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Well - Tracklisting

1.Well 04:55 

2.The Many Comforts of Calamity 05:20

3.Sermons for the Electrical Lost 06:16

4.Oblivion and Further Disaster 16:07

Review

Well is the new EP from Stoner/Doom Metal Alchemists Uncle Woe who incorporate a blend of Sludge Metal, Post-Metal, Psych Rock and Progressive World Building into their music on this EP alone. There’s a more dramatic flair coming from Rain Fice who is the creative force behind Uncle Woe especially the way he delivers his vocals within the subtle opening track Well.

Well sees Uncle Woe play heavy Post-Rock sounding guitars with a slight Industrial score which soon builds upto a solid rhythm of Psychedelic Sludge Rock energy which feels eerie close to YOB and Pallbearer at times but that’s a fine sound to aim for with Uncle Woe still striving to play their own emotionally charged style of music.

Second song The Many Comforts Of Calamity has a more Operatic feel with the distorted sludgy guitars becoming more distant and even flamboyant in places. There’s a neverending style of Ambient Post-Rock/Post-Metal energy appearing with the experimental rock energy of Rain’s vocals and subtle flashes of Prog Metal energy. The instrumental moments can be quite out-there even for an Uncle Woe release. However, the guitars and intricate instrumental sounds have a sense of wicked Doomedelic energy to them.

Third song Sermons For The Electrical Lost opens with a surreal Drone Rock aspect that soon merges into Cinematic Post-Rock textures with a slow-paced Psychedelic energy taking its time for the standard Doom/Sludge Metal sounds to appear. Perhaps the most experimental and slightly “out there” track on the album with Uncle Woe weaving intricate moments of Ambient Post-Rock and long drawn out Psychedelic noises with flashes of Droned Out imagery.

The final song Oblivion And Further Disaster is the title track from Uncle Woe’s upcoming full length album which is rather brave and ballsy of the band to include on this EP. However, this was a great decision to make as this is the standout track with Uncle Woe delivering one of their most impressive tracks to date. The song is quite conceptual with Uncle Woe channelling classic styles of Sludge Metal, Post-Metal and Doom Metal that uses influences such as Neurosis, ISIS, and Mastodon within the many moments of heavy Progressive Sludgy guitars the song actually delivers. Don’t be surprised when Uncle Woe changes the whole creative flow and direction of this track unexpectedly which allows the band to deliver their music in a unique, exciting and highly original way.

Well is another superb release from Uncle Woe. This is a record that allows Uncle Woe to explore new musical avenues and one that may show a different side to the band on their upcoming new album Oblivion And Further Disaster. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

You can buy Well on DD/VInyl via BandCamp now.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Uncle Woe - Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe (Album Review)

Release Date: March 18th 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD/Vinyl

Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe - Tracklisting

1. We Plant the Seeds for Things We Know will never Grow

2.Lavignia Falls

3.Pretend I'm Dead

4.Merriment Abounds

5.Nine Kinds of Time

6.Seasick

7.Wax

Members

Rain Fice - Everything

Review

Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe is the new album from Canadian Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Uncle Woe. Uncle Woe is the work of one solitary person and that is Rain Fice who has steadily been releasing acclaimed releases under the Uncle Woe banner for the last couple of years and this album is their best work and mature offering to date. Taking the Doom Metal stylings of Pallbearer and merging them with Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves of Baroness and Mastodon with the gloomy worldly outlook of Neurosis.

This album is deliberately slow paced with Uncle Woe taking their time building up a steady rhythm on this lengthy album that runs for around seventy minutes in length. There is a lot of variety within the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal department with the record being played and developed in the way of Post-Metal with a bleak Psychedelic edge.

The album opens up with the twelve minute opener We Plant The Seeds For Things We Know That  Never Grow. Yeah, the title is a bit of a mouthful but the song is a mixture of Progressive Doom and Sludge Metal themes with Ambient Textures adding a more distorted sound especially when the down-tuned guitars make an appearance. The different layers of this song can be quite hard to comprehend at first and if you’re expecting a riff fest then you may be disappointed though the music is perhaps described as long drawn out grooves with the song moving into Ambient Metal towards the end of the song.

Second song Lavignia Falls carries on the distorted grooves heard on the opening song but opts for a more Pallbearer based delivery with a bleak Stoner Metal attitude. The vocals are eerie and float in and out for a “dream-like” echo. The song is slow-paced once again but Uncle Woe are in total control and they bring some fantastically heavy guitar sounds that soon move into Post-Rock/Post-Metal territory. 

Ambient Soundscapes are a big part of this album and the album could have easily become distracted by these different sounds but Uncle Woe injects beautifully played strands of Progressive Rock/Metal with different vocal stylings for the majority of the album. The songs are all on the epic side and you may need multiple listens to understand the full desired effect that Uncle Woe has for this album. 

Other standout songs include: Pretend I’m Dead, Nine Kinds Of Time and the thrilling eighteen minute closer Wax.

Wax is the standout track on the album and showcases how Rain Fice has matured as a writer and musician over the last few Uncle Woe releases with this being my favourite musical composition of his that he’s written to date. The song is an epic retelling of what has come before it with Uncle Woe exploring a more Prog Rock/Metal attitude before moving fleetingly into the worlds of Psych Rock, Sludge Metal, Doom Metal and Stoner Metal. The song is quite moving, intense, bleak and surprisingly uplifting as well.

The production on Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe is excellent allowing Uncle Woe to have a solitary and cold based atmosphere that does have moments of real warmth on the later stages of the record.

This album may not be for everyone but for fans of Uncle Woe such as myself, Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe is a beautifully complex and outstanding album that delivers some of the best music Uncle Woe have delivered to date. Awesome stuff…

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Uncle Woe - Don't Look Down (EP Review)

 

Release date: March 30th 2021. Label: Self Released. Format: DD 

Don’t Look Down – Tracklisting

1.Keep the Dead Parts Around 09:17
2.That's Not the Sun 03:24
3.Casket Masquerade 13:07

Review

Don’t Look Down is the new EP from Canadian Progressive Sludge Rockers Uncle Woe and comes a month after their last release Seasick & Old Friends which I originally missed. The band also released their their last album Phantomescence back in Oct 2020. So I was excited to hear what the band have been upto recently.

Don’t Look Down is almost 26 minutes long spread across 3 tracks. The band offer 2 epic songs and one running under 4 minutes. The production is quite raw with the band recording the whole EP in double quick time during March 2021. About a week and a half I believe. This is still a well-produced and fantastic sounding record.

The first song – Keep The Dead Parts Around – sees Uncle Woe bring their usual style of Psychedelic Sludge and Progressive Stoner Metal based grooves fused around superb vocals. The music is the main thing here with a “Post-metallic” element being the main driving force. There are other elements such as Psych Rock and Doom Metal allowing Uncle Woe to create a world-weary and slightly depressing feel. Though the Post-Rock/Post-Metal dynamic has it’s fair share of cool moments as well.

Second song – That’s Not The Sun – is a sullen Post-Doom and almost Folk based interlude with an “EARTH” style Drone atmosphere before heavier sounds appear to give this song a more nightmarish feel. This is my favourite song on the record despite it being the shortest. As it shows a wealth of creativity with a sense of gloomy minimalism I didn’t expect to hear on this release.

The final song – Casket Masquerade – is 13 minutes of Uncle Woe channelling their inner “NEUROSIS/YOB” riff-worship. Well that’s the idea I get from this track. Uncle Woe play a slow-brooding style of music that captures the bleaker elements of Post-Doom/Post-Metal at it’s very best. The song does start off very slow before moving at a faster pace with the song becoming ever slightly more hopeful but not venturing far away from it’s Doom based message.

Don’t Look Down is a bleak and thrilling ride into Uncle Woe’s dark world that sees the band releasing another excellent record to impress their fan-base with and possibly gain a few more admirers along the way.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Uncle Woe - Phantomescence (Album Review)

Release date: October 23rd 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Phantomescence  – Tracklisting

1. Become the Ghost
2. On Laden Shores
3. Lucid Degrees of Autoscopic Ruin
4. A Map of Dead Stars 

Members

Nicholas Wowk: Drums, percussion
Rain Fice: Guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards

Review:

Uncle Woe are back with their new album Phantomescence and only 12 months since their superb debut album Our Unworn Limbs. The band showed a fine style of Alice In Chains classic Grunge Sound merged with an unforgiving Doom/Stoner Metal atmosphere and the band continue that style of music with their even better follow-up with different melodies and guitar tones allowing the band to perhaps before more creative with their music.

The atmosphere is still quite raw and quite unpolished but it works wonders for Uncle Woe and the opening song Become The Ghost is a gloomy exercise in Apocalyptic Grunge ideas with the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal becoming quite LOUD and ABRUPT in all the right places. The vocals sound like the real deal and you can hear the emotional intensity coming from Rain's vocals and the lyrics add a more human feel to the overall sound of the album.

Second song - On Laden Shores - is the first of two epic songs running past the 13 minute mark the band have included on this album and it's another gloomy and emotional affair with jagged guitars adding a mellow psychedelic edge. The band slowly take their time playing the heavy grooves and go for a more claustrophobic and cautious approach and dare I say "semi-acoustic" in places. The dual vocals from Rice and Nicholas compliment each other superbly well. There's a lot to go through on this song and if you dig YOB and Pallbearer then expect a similar style of Emotional Doom Rock those great bands play.

Third song - Lucid Degrees Of Autoscopic Ruin - sees Uncle Woe deliver a perfect balance of Post-Metal ideals with their familiar style of Sludge/Grunge/Doom/Stoner Metal vibes being added for dramatic effect. It's another slow-burning song and whilst it's quite heavy, Uncle Woe adapt a more Drone/Post-Rock delivery on this track compared to the other songs on the album.

The final song - A Map Of Dead Stars - is one final round of Progressive Doom based music that lasts for 13 minutes or so. The claustrophobic mood is daunting and the music even nightmarish and distorted that you would expect. The intense drumming and slow-paced guitars are the best parts of this song with the vocals and lyrics not too far behind. The sound and tone of the album is bombastic from start to finish but it works to Uncle Woe's favour and the production is quite superb despite the guys recording this album in their respective home studios during the months of COVID-19 lockdown.

Phantomescence is a deeply rich and emotional album that sees Uncle Woe release another excellent album and I can see these guys causing waves within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal world with this outstanding record.

Words by Steve Howe

Phantomescence will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from October 23rd 2020. 

Thanks to Asher Media Relations for the promo.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp