In less than 10 years of band history and with two full-length releases under their belt AHAB managed to carve their very own steady and unique niche within Doom Metal. With their third record The Giant they catapult themselves even to the top of that genre as AHAB have almost brought their own style of music to perfection. And you can take The Giant literally! This album is giant! Giant in its atmosphere, in its expressiveness, in its epicness and melancholy.
Once more AHAB have created a conceptual work still following nautical themes. It is not Herman Melville who delivers the background this time; it is the one and only (complete) novel and most mystical work by E.A. Poe. Center and my personal favorite is Antarctica (The Polymorphess), which I would like to consider as the essence of the band’s work and potential, closely followed by Fathoms Deep Below. Of course, none of the other tracks falls any bit shorter of this mentioned one, they are pure monoliths of solemn and epic awesomeness, Antarctica just stands out a little bit more.
Singer Daniel still ranges between deep-throated growls and clean singing, which has improved a lot and causes gooseflesh as in Fathoms Deep Below. Musically AHAB depart a little bit more from their Funeral Doom roots of tough slowness towards more variety as there is a certain Post Rock vibe and riff-dominated guitar work to find. Closing out title track gets ennobled with guest vocals by Enslaved’s Herbrand Larsen, which could have been a bit more distinct, if you ask me ;)
If you are a fan of Doom Metal you easily will take The Giant to your heart as this album is a wonderful gem of music, a masterpiece! This album is available as normal CD, as digipack offering a bonus track (Time's Like Molten Lead) and so does the vinyl edition (Evening Star).