Brazilian re-issue of 2006 release on No Colours Rec.
Woodtemple’s “Voices of Pagan Mountains” suffers from the same problems that the band’s entire discography does. Imitative of Graveland to the point where Woodtemple could very well be a tribute band, the album is, in short, unoriginal, and it’s this unoriginality that makes it a dull listen. The release really has no personality to call its own. Even its title is incredibly similar to “The Call from the Pagan Woods.” Both recall an aesthetic that is vaguely pagan without going into folk territory, but this time Aramath has taken his music from the woods and into the mountains. You would think, then, that the tracks ought to be monumental, and in their extensive track lengths they certainly try to be, but they fail to hold up for their entire duration. What I can say is this: “Voices of Pagan Mountains” is one of Woodtemple’s better releases, and it nearly makes itself relevant to the genre as a whole.
First off, the production is very clean, so it’s strange that the album should inspire little emotion, if it’s clear that so much work was put into its creation. The sound has something of a non-confrontational tone to it in that the guitars and drums lack forcefulness, but there’s an organic quality to the production that works. Even if the sound were more powerful, the tracks would become diluted over such long durations because of Aramath’s repetitive approach to composition. The mixing works for the most part, too. Keyboards appear sporadically in the background and add a tasteful layer to the music, while clean and ethereal guitars often wisp within the soft fuzz of the distorted ones. “Voices of Pagan Mountains” is layered with all sorts of atmospheric elements like these, and they are what make the album a more captivating listen.
Once again, it’s difficult to tell the three main tracks from one another because they are so similar. They all evoke some ambiguous feeling of majesty and glory, but they do not present a convincing package at all. The problem is twofold: each being over twelve minutes, the songs are just too long, and Aramath’s vocals, perhaps the one thing that could sustain the listener’s interest, fail to do so. Instead, what we hear are flat croaks, akin to Rob Darken’s, that drone on at the front of the mix. Occasionally, Aramath lets out cavernous howls, but they are placed in the back of the sound and are used very rarely for atmosphere. “Voices of Pagan Mountains” is just slightly longer than your average release, and Aramath’s vocals are used only sparingly, but the vocals and the track lengths, on top of the general unoriginality of the whole album, make the listening experience a rather dull one.
The most improved feature that the album has to offer is the drumming. Racanon acts as the session drummer, but his performance is only remarkable as it relates to the music. He imitates Graveland well and knows how to give the tracks the extra punch that they need in order to continue forward, if they ever hope to go beyond the twelve-minute-mark. This solid backbone was something that was noticeably missing in some of Woodtemple’s other releases, and here it helps the songs maintain some sense of tension, even if the music all too often stretches itself too thin.
Like I said previously, “Voices of Pagan Mountains” is probably one of Woodtemple’s better albums, but it still leaves me on the fence as to whether or not it could really be called good or bad. The sort of grandeur that Aramath is going for is supposed to resonate with the listener, but what we get instead is impersonal and, worse, unoriginal music that fails to engage the listener’s awe. If the track lengths were halved and the vocals improved, then the release would be much better. That said, if you like Graveland then you’ll probably like this release, but if you don’t then I’m not sure you should really bother.
Sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbXyFfJw7rI
