RIP David Gold (Woods of Ypres, Necramyth)

On December 21, 2011, Canadian multi-instrumentalist David Gold tragically passed away in a traffic accident in Barrie, Ontario, approximately 60 miles outside of Toronto. Gold, 31, was best known as the front-man of black/doom-metal trio Woods of Ypres, but he also spent significant periods of time overseas, including stays in Kuwait and South Korea — the latter of which included a stint as the drummer for Korean metal outfit Necramyth, which released Slaughter of the Seoul in 2009. Prior to his death, Gold also was working on a short documentary called Metal Korea: Into Exile, using footage that was captured during his time there.

Woods of Ypres, which was founded by Gold, Aaron Palmer, and Brian McManus in 2002, had recently finished recording its fifth album, Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light. Per the wishes of Gold’s family and band members, the album will be released as originally planned in February via Earache Records — available for pre-order here. Moving forward, the label will work closely with Gold’s family, which issued the following statement to friends and fans:

“The Gold family is incredibly saddened in the wake of David’s sudden passing. We want to thank everyone for the ongoing outpour of support, as it is greatly appreciated. Although he was only 31 years old, David lived more than most would be able to in an entire lifetime. He was well educated, well traveled, incredibly talented, passionate, compassionate, and loved dearly by thousands of friends, family, and fans all over the world. David’s legacy will not only live on but continue to grow. We ask you to keep David’s spirit alive by continuing to listen to his music, and let him inspire your life.”

50 Unheralded Albums from 2011

50 Unheralded Albums from 2011

In just one more trip around the sun, another swarm of immensely talented but under-recognized musicians has harnessed its collective talents and discharged its creations into the void. This list is but one fraction of those dedicated individuals who caught our ears with some serious jams.

Ben Frost & Daniel Bjarnason

Q&A: Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: SolarisBen Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: Sólaris (Bedroom Community, 11/8/11)

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: “Reyja”

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Last year, Mat Schulz, who started Poland’s Unsound Festival, asked composers Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason — each residents of Reykjavík, Iceland — to rework Andre Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Sólaris. For both Frost and Bjarnason, their collaborative album Sólaris is a complete departure. Though Frost’s music is often labeled everything from dark industrial to classical minimalism, Bjarnason’s compositions are wildly extravagant yet controlled; together, it’s an inspired collaboration. Under their guidance, Sólaris achieves a delicate balance of the two personalities.

The soundtrack began as an improvisation played to the film. With the help of music software, these initial sketches were reproduced digitally and were then given to a 30-piece orchestra to replicate. Though far from the original score, what resulted was a sort of experiment between man, machine, and art, skillfully capturing the beautifully fragmented, tense, and at times haunting quality of the film.

The piece has been performed — alongside stunning visual “film manipulations” by Brian Eno and Nick Robertson — with Sinfonietta Cracovia in Krakow and New York as well as Iceland and Austria.

In light of last month’s release of Sólaris, we spoke with Bjarnason about the concepts behind the album and the soundtrack’s transformation.

Why did you choose to remake the Sólaris soundtrack? In what ways did the original fall short of your expectations?

For me, the issue was never to make a new or better soundtrack to the Tarkovsky film. The piece is simply inspired by the film and the book. Stanislav Lem wrote Sólaris in Krakow, and it had its 50-year anniversary the same year as we premiered Sólaris in Krakow during the Unsound Festival, so it was a great way to mark that occasion.

Was this originally meant to be a literal soundtrack to the film? How did it evolve into what it is now?

That was the original idea, yes, but we were quick to abandon that idea. I think we were both much more interested in taking the film as a starting point and then moving on from there. So all the music was made during improvisation session where me and Ben watched the film and improvised on top of it and recorded what we did. So every musical moment is a response to a certain scene or moment in the film. But we never watched after those initial sessions, and when I listen to the piece now, I have no idea what music goes with what scene. In a way, we left the film behind at that point and just looked at what we had musically. Then the Sinfonietta came into the process, and the whole thing took on another dimension.