The Priceless Ones – II : David Gold (Woods Of Ypres)

Hailing from Ontario,Canada,Woods Of Ypres have earned numerous critical acclaim for its ever evolving unique blend of depressive blackened doom metal & often were compared to bands like Agalloch,Baroness,Amorphis & Type O Negative.The band were formed by David Gold & his friend Aaron Palmer back in 2002.Since the formation the band has released an EP & three full length albums via different independent labels & has gone through several lineup changes.

Woods of Ypres released its first demo named Against The Seasons: Cold Winter Songs From The Dead Summer Heat in fall 2002 which sounded a lot like Burzum, Negura Bunget & Summoning with very slight doom approach. David Gold neither contributed vocals nor guitar in it.It featured Brian McManus on vocals & guitar,Aaron Palmer on backing vocals & bass & it is both of their only album with the band,whereas future frontman David Gold played drums.

In 2003,David Gold moved to Toronto & began working on a full length album.Woods II: Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth,the band’s first full length album was released in 2004 on David Gold’s own label, Krankenhaus Records.David Gold performed all the vocals,guitars,bass & drums.Additional musicians were Jessica Rose (keyboards),Steve Jones (additional guitars) & Connor Sharpe (bass).This album sounded way too different from the demo,drawing more inspiration from Doom Metal but kept a strong raw & fast black metal vibe too with haunting atmospherics. Whether its the epic bipartite ‘The Sun Was in My Eyes’ or ‘The Ghosts of Summer’s Past’, David’s broad vocal works,crushing,raw & sludgy riffs,soothing & bone chilling acoustics & intense blast-beats made the album hard to ignore for any extreme metal fans.

Woods III: Deepest Roots & Darkest Blues was released in 2008 within the same label.The album was a bit sludgy,much like Crowbar & Baroness,on the other hand it maintained band’s trademark atmospheric black/doom style.In this year,the band headlined along with Moonsorrow in Moonsorrow’s Canadian tour.Also the band headlined The Age of Darkness Metal Fest alongside Korpiklaani & Ahab.

In 2009,Woods Iv: The Green Album was released on Practical Art Records.Its the longest album by the band to date featuring 16 tracks comprising over 78 minutes.The album was much slower than any of the previous album focusing more on dark & gloomy atmospherics,haunting clean passages,Black Sabbath-esque heavy & bluesy riffs & harmonized vocals.In my opinion its a depressive dark metal masterpiece.From the opening track ‘Shards of Love’ to ‘I was buried… in Mount Pleasant Cemetery’ to the closing ‘Move On! (The Woman Will Always Leave The Man)’,David poured all of the nihilistic & mournful laments from his heart into the lyrics.Canadian monthly magazine Exclaim! Called it “the band’s most amorphous and powerful creature so far.”

In early 2010,David Gold rumoured to be moving to Kuwait & thus,Woods of Ypres intended to split up,but in October 2010 Gold himself denied the news & further announced that the band has signed a contract with Earache Records.

In 2011,Earache Records re-released all four previous albums & Home,a mini album with a new single ‘Falling Apart’ & another track ‘You Were The Light’.David Gold also announced band’s next album named Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light is in the process describing it as “a tighter,more effective Woods Of Ypres for a broader audience of listeners young and old,new and loyal.”

A few days before this past Christmas,on December 21,2011 David Gold,aged only 31 died in a tragic car accident in Barrie,Ontario just a short distance away from his hometown Sault Ste. Marie.The accident occurred just hours after Gold texted his mother in Sault Ste. Marie that he was on his way home.The news left the entire Gold family,David’s friends,his countless fans in indescribable awe & shock resulting in a huge loss for the band itself,when Woods of Ypres were getting the much awaited recognition from the wider metal community as well as to his closed ones.

Earache Records will release David Gold’s final brainchild Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light on February 13,2012 which will now be regarded as the keystone of his musical legacy & boundless talent.

Although its a matter of investigation,David Gold’s last few tweets left me in a bit hesitation,considering whether his death was truly accident.But as Paul Kuhr (Novembers Doom) has said on WOY forum in ultimatemetal.com, “Hey everyone. There’s a lot of speculation on what happened. All the answers will someday be revealed, but for now, David’s family asks that the fans just try to focus on his life, and not how he died, to honor him. It’s a difficult time for them, and they want to get through all this holiday, and the service before details are revealed. Please don’t ask me in private, his family will reveal details when they wish.” We’ve never met personally,but we did exchange a few words on last.fm,rest in peace brother,sleep tight in ‘Mount Pleasant Cemetery’.We ‘Kiss your ashes (Goodbye)’ but you’ll live forever through your amazing music.