At the banks of a canal of the river Trent, about seven miles from Derby’s town centre, is a mysterious cave marked in the map as Anchor Church. It is believed that, after being deposed in the 9th century, king Eardwulf of Northumbria went into exile and lived and prayed in this cave as a hermit. He would’ve been buried a few miles to the South of this cave and would’ve been known as Saint Hardulph. In fact, living in isolation as a hermit monk was a common practice in early Celtic Christianity in Britain.
If you think that this mix of isolation, spirituality, darkness, and medieval history adds up to a great topic for a metal album, you’re damn right. However, you’re also a bit late to the brainstorming, as Mr. Mark Deeks from Winterfylleth fame already spent a good 2-year period putting together an album dedicated to one of Northumbria’s most fascinating stories, the story of Saint Cuthbert. The result is a new solo project called Arð and a first LP, Take Up My Bones, released earlier this year.
Being Winterfylleth big advocates for the promotion of British traditions and history, it comes with no surprise that Deeks drew his attention to one of Durham’s most recognised historical characters. Nevertheless, what’s really unforeseen is the musical direction that he pursued in Arð. Deeks completely detaches from the black metal protocol his band is lauded for and goes all the way to the opposite side of the wide spectrum of metal subgenres: the slow, melancholic, monotonous and heavy funeral doom metal.
A question yet to be answered is what Deeks chose first, the musical direction or the album’s topic. Regardless of the answer, it’s clear that the gloom and intrigue of a genre like doom metal fit in the story that Deeks wants to tell – St Cuthbert was a hermit monk but also, at some point, a bishop. Hence, same as Eardwulf, he experienced power and politics, but also total isolation. According to the legend, when Cuthbert’s wooden coffin was opened eleven years after his death, the monks found his body totally incorrupt. Due to the Viking menace, The Great Heathen Army, the monks were forced to constantly move Cuthbert’s body to different locations. It is said that miracles attributed to him came about in the places where the body temporarily rested. Take Up My Bones’ cover art depicts three monks surrounding Cuthbert’s coffin outside a cave, probably St. Cuthbert’s Cave a.k.a. Cuddy’s Cave.
Possibly stemming from the album’s topic and the folk approach of Winterfylleth’s music, Take Up My Bones has been largely labelled a «folk doom metal» album. However, hardly does the album’s sound resemble that of bands like Amber Tears, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy or Kauan whose doom metal brew has a sheer folk character in both topics and musical elements. Perhaps, considering the stripped-down sound of The Hallowing Heirdom (2018), a doom metal skeleton with persistent folkish acoustic guitars would be expected – something in the vein of Norway’s Skumring, maybe? However, this is not quite the case. Deeks mainly focuses on building an atmosphere, although not exactly that of taking you on a horseback ride to a medieval castle. Instead, the feeling is one of mystery, spirituality, sorrow and uncertainty. Hence my reluctance to use the mentioned genre tag.
In his quest for this intriguing atmosphere, Deeks’s forefront element are the vocals. Lacking any growls, the album is led by multi-tracked downtempo vocals. Funeral doom metal vanguardists Pantheist implemented this technique in their masterpiece O Solitude (2003). The breathtaking result mimics chants of monks which don’t really intend to have an operatic sound – The tenor vocals you hear in bands like Batushka or Et Moriemur are inspired in the Eastern Orthodox denominations.
Yorkshire’s lifetime heads of the genre, My Dying Bride, leave a big mark in Arð’s guitar melodies. But make no mistake, Arð’s music is intentionally much less dynamic, which is paramount in order to build this type of atmosphere. Known for being the man behind the keyboards, Deeks resorts to piano, strings and a gorgeous church organ to take the listener right behind Cuthbert’s pallbearers as they march in darkness and silence. Furthermore, this combination of downtempo drums, church organ and monk chants really sets up an ecclesiastic feeling that brings to mind bands like Pantheist, old Tristitia, Ras Algethi and Fallen (NOR).
Getting hold of a physical copy is recommended in order to fully experience Take Up My Bones. The liner notes include historical references accompanying the lyrics. This gives the listener a whole picture in which music and history interconnect. For example, the repetitive minimalistic piano tune in ‘Boughs of Trees’ imposes a feeling that’s similar to that Anathema pushed in their atmospheric track ‘Alternative 4’. According to the liner notes, the track is related to the more than one hundred years of uncertainty in which Cuthbert’s coffin was constantly moved and how it would eventually rest in what is now Durham Cathedral. This is just an example, but reading along the liner notes while listening really helps understand the album, an aspect that’s utterly missed when listening to it on Spotify.
Fully recorded during lockdown times, Take Up My Bones provides a different approach to the genre – the album doesn’t aim for the darkest or the most sorrowful sound, nor does it intend to be the heaviest music you’ve ever heard. Instead, Arð’s purpose is to tell a story, a story whose impact in Durham’s folklore is recognised in the county’s flag which features a St. Cuthbert’s cross. The same cross ornaments the labels of the album’s vinyl and is the topic of ‘Banner of the Saint’. It’s also important to mention that, although fully written by Deeks, the album was performed by a whole band whose lineup features former Winterfylleth guitarist Dan Capp. This might explain the prominent black metal riffs in ‘Banner of the Saint’. Certainly an album that any die-hard doom metal fan will find appealing to say the least. But I’m happy that the popularity of Winterfylleth and the promotion from a label the size of Prophecy are giving this album more exposure, since I believe it can be enjoyed by people who are not particularly fond of the slowest metal subgenre.
–– PABLO CUSTODIO
