(written by Islander)
On June 12th the Dusktone label will release the fourth album by the Australian black metal band Woewarden (the first two were released when the band was known as Cancer). Titled The Roots Of My Neglect, the new one follows the band’s 2022 full-length, In The Art Of My Caged Existence. Dusktone describes it:
It is the natural successor to their previous work but is intentionally more visceral. Woewarden have maintained the melodic, melancholic approach to depressive black metal – inspired by the likes of Silencer, Psychonaut 4, and Insomnium — but they have injected a heavier, more abrasive edge reminiscent of the raw torment and fury of 90s Scandinavian legends like Dissection and Emperor.
We’ll also share Woewarden’s own description of how their new album compares to the last one:
The Roots Of My Neglect stands as a visceral evolution to our previous record, In The Art Of My Caged Existence. While its predecessor explored the isolation of a caged existence, this record examines what happens when that cage finally breaks – leaving us to carry the accumulated burdens of ourselves and others. We have pushed our melodic melancholy to its limit, fusing bittersweet arrangements with an abrasive, raw edge. From maniacal wails and screams of anguish to haunting croons, it is an exploration of neglect, both self-inflicted and external, and the rot that settles when hope is finally abandoned.
What we have for you today is a lyric video for a song off the album called “As Deep As The Knife Goes” — and we also have a statement from Woewarden about this specific track:
“As Deep As The Knife Goes” explores the terror of psychological captivity, chronicling a distorted reality where a person once admired instantly shatters into an imminent threat. The track captures the suffocating suspense of weaponised guilt and unhinged obsession, navigating the frantic desire to wind the clock back to the start. Lyrically and musically, it stands as an ode to survival and the immense internal fortitude required to withstand psychological violation.
The single’s artwork invokes the historical tragedy of “The Rape of Lucretia” and her subsequent suicide — bridging an ancient milestone of defiance against physical and mental subjugation with the modern psychological warfare depicted in the track.
Pay attention to those words — “distorted reality”, “suffocating suspense”, “unhinged obsession”, and “defiance against physical and mental subjugation” — because the music reflects those sensations.
The slowly ringing piano melody that functions as the song’s overture creates an atmosphere of fragile innocence and gentle beauty, but the musical tale soon becomes much more harrowing, a change announced by a shattering scream of torment.
An enormous bass throbs like a beating heart; the drums crack like whips; the music sweeps like tides of sorrow; the vocals soar in a wretched cry. The music’s mood is terribly bereft, even when the ever-changing vocals descend into deep imperious roars.
The song’s intensity continues to gradually build, as the drums hammer and those musical tides rise and seem to yearn as well as weep. Periodically, the vocals continue to dramatically ascend from gnashing snarls to echoing, spine-tingling wails, and the lead guitar also seems to wail, piercing in tone and stricken in feeling — or perhaps defiant, depending on how it reaches a listener’s own mood.
The piano more prominently surfaces near the end as the sweeping wash of the music diminishes, like a memory of something now lost, and before the end we get one more stunning display of the vocals’ dramatic variety.
It’s the kind of song in which it’s easy for a listener to become immersed, delivering music that’s elegant but also expansive, powerfully propulsive, emotionally wrenching, and immediately memorable.
As you’ll see, the eloquent lyrics are themselves harrowing and haunting, unfolding against a backdrop of scenes from an old silent film.
Dusktone will release The Roots Of My Neglect on limited and regular LP, digipak CD, and digital formats. They recommend it for fans of the afore-mentioned Psychonaut 4, Silencer, Insomnium, Emperor, and Dissection.
“As Deep As The Knife Goes” is the third single from the album. Below we’ve included streams of the first two, which are the two songs that begin the album: “Frail” and “Nailed To Aesthetics“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/the-roots-of-my-neglect
WOEWARDEN:
https://woewarden.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/woewarden
https://www.instagram.com/woewarden/