Ahab "The Call Of The Wretched Sea (Austria, Napalm Records, NPR 198)"

Ahab is a German Funeral Doom Metal band founded in 2004 by Midnattsol guitarists Christian Hector and Daniel Droste. The band is named after Captain Ahab, a character in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Along with its name, the band also draws thematic and lyrical inspiration from Moby-Dick; some songs even feature direct quotations from the book.

Near the end of 2004, with one song already written, Christian Hector and Daniel Droste decided to form a band and recorded their first single, The Stream. On 15 April 2005, after several months of rehearsing, the band's first demo, The Oath, was released. The demo was limited to 30 hand-numbered copies and contained the band's first song, "The Stream", as well as two new songs and an outro track. Nearly a year and a half later, The Call of the Wretched Sea, the group's first full-length album was released on Napalm Records with the help of new band member Stephan Adolph and session drummer Cornelius Althammer.

The Call of the Wretched Sea is the debut album by the German funeral doom band Ahab. It was released in October 2006.

The Call of the Wretched Sea is Ahab's first studio album. It was the band's first recording since their first two demos. To record the album, they recruited Corny Althammer as session drummer. Production, engineering, mastering and mixing tasks were carried out by Stephan Adolph.

It was released on 10 October 2006 through Napalm Records. Double-LP versions of this album were released through Deviant Records; there were 100 copies in green vinyl, 100 copies in red vinyl, and 300 copies in black vinyl.

The album has been treated as an example of what funeral doom metal represents. It features slow synthesizer melodies, downtuned guitars, echoing percussion, and deep and guttural vocals. Chants and choral vocal parts are also arranged at various points during the album. The track "Old Thunder" features an orchestrated central portion as well as clean-droned baritones substituting the guttural vocals in some sections. "The Sermon" has a central passage of near-silent melodic ripples that temporarily interrupt the album's guitar passages.

The Call of the Wretched Sea is a concept album which attempts to reinterpret Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Some of its lyrics have been adapted directly from Melville's writings. The album tries to represent the feelings of foreboding as told through the story of the book's main character, the despotic Captain Ahab.

The album was given a 4 of 5 by AllMusic and an 8 of 10 by blabbermouth.net. It has been considered a fine example of the style, but not appealing enough to people who don't appreciate doom metal, specifically funeral doom.

Track listing

Music by Ahab. Lyrics written by Herman Melville except "The Pacific" by Daniel Droste and Melville; "Old Thunder" by Christian Hector; and "The Hunt" by Christian Hoffarth.

1. "Below the Sun" Ahab 11:45
2. "The Pacific" 10:07
3. "Old Thunder" 9:54
4. "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales" (instrumental) 1:52
5. "The Sermon" 12:36
6. "The Hunt" 11:13
7. "Ahab's Oath" 10:11

Time:  01:07:38

The sticker on their debut says the band plays "Nautik Funeral Doom" due to their obsession with the ocean.

"The Call of the Wretched Sea" is a concept album based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby Dick". All lyrics are credited to Melville, except "Old Thunder" by Chris Hector and "The Hunt" by Christian Hoffarth.

"The Hunt" and "Ahab's Oath" are taken from Ahab's first demo, re-recorded.

All music by Ahab except "The Pacific" and "The Hunt" by Daniel Droste.

The sample in "The Sermon" is from the movie "Moby Dick" by John Huston.

Recording information:

Recorded, mixed and mastered at SoundArtDesign