https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2WLHA5s3bo
Before reading the review, please watch the first :35 of the above video, if you don't mind.
I ignored everything in the buildup to this album's release. I thought that would give me an objective view for my first listen; while I don't like to judge based on first listen, as stated in my last review, it can color my view of an album going forward, for better or worse. And really, I wish I had seen the video I linked at the top of the post before listening to the album. I would have adjusted my expectations, at least, and while I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the album any more than I do currently, the disappointment would have been mitigated.
So yes, Clearing the Path to Ascend is another "doom" album released in 2014 that I find disappointing and/or flawed. In this case, I'm going to call it flawed.
But really, it's only flawed based on my own judgment of what a doom metal album should be. Based on the first :35 of the video above, I think it's successful. How successful? Well, that's not for me to say. But I'm looking for something completely different in metal (especially doom) and this album doesn't satisfy what I'm looking for and thus doesn't count as "good" to me.
Normally, I'd compare it to the previous album. That would turn out detrimental to Clearing, because Atma is so different in bearing and execution.
My initial impression was that the middle tracks, "Nothing to Win" and "Unmask the Spectre", are the best of the lot. That hasn't changed after nine listens and it probably won't after ninety. "In Our Blood" and "Marrow" just don't appeal to me, but for different reasons.
"In Our Blood" opens the album on a rather drab note. It basically rumbles and plods for the duration; I'm tired of it after about nine minutes, and there are still seven more to go.
"Marrow" is YOB's entry into the "melodic doom" mess that 2014 has turned into. There's no riff to speak of, just some chords, a melody that reminds me of "Deathtripper" from Tombs' otherwise excellent Savage Gold, and an exceedingly bloated run-time. I don't understand why "Marrow" has to be 18 minutes long, other than that an "epic" closer was needed. Honestly, this isn't half the closer that "Adrift in the Ocean" is...but then again, that track is the exception, based on the rest of YOB's catalogue.
Also, "Marrow" seems like a forced emotional climax. This type of song was done much better on VHOL's S/T from last year. "Songs Set to Await Forever" has an emotional climax at the end of the song, but it has a much better buildup that includes some actual riffs and better songwriting in general. The common factor here is Scheidt's vocals; honestly, they were better on VHOL than here, and that's another problem with the approach of Clearing in general.
Still, Clearing the Path to Ascend sounds like the album that Scheidt wanted to make in 2014. So while I'm not crazy about it (and it sure as hell won't be on my Best of 2014 list), I don't hate it, and I certainly don't dislike it as much as some of the other "melodic doom" albums of this year.
There's that damn bias again.
