Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light is the fourth studio album as well as the fifth and final studio release from Woods of Ypres, released two months after the death of multi-instrumentalist and frontman David Gold.[1] On February 19, 2013, it was announced that Woods 5 had been nominated for a Juno Award for "Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year", along with the likes of Devin Townsend, Cancer Bats, and Ex Deo, an award that it went on to win.
Production and recording
It was recorded in August 2011 at Beach Road Studios with Siegfried Meier in Goderich, Ontario, and released the following year through Earache Records.[2] In comparison to past Woods of Ypres albums, the album has a stronger emphasis on clean vocals and gothic metal sounds, with little of the black metal sound that was present on previous releases. Woods V is the band's only studio album (and second release overall) to feature guitarist Joel Violette, and the first Woods of Ypres album since Woods III to feature David Gold on studio drums. It also marked the band's final studio collaboration with cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne and oboist Angela Schleihauf, who had both guested on Woods IV: The Green Album.
Gold posted on Twitter shortly before his death that the album has taken a great toll on him emotionally, stating,
"It's humbling to write something in strength and conviction, only later to fear what you've created because it hurts too much, is too close."
"And finally, nearly 10 years in, the art is finally too much, too real, too raw, too close, too loud, cold, clean, but too hard to hear."
and,
"#Wood5 is a dangerous record for how real it is and for how somewhere out there, those stories are unraveling in terrible ways in real life."[3]
Release
Originally slated for a January 30 release date, the final version of the album was released in the UK on February 13 and in the US in April 2012.[2] Though not the band's first release on the label, Woods V marked the band's first and only album to be initially put out under the Earache Records umbrella.
Other versions
A link to an incomplete promotional version of the album was tweeted by Earache Records shortly after David Gold's death on December 21, 2011. This version of the album excluded "Keeper of the Ledger", split "Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye)" into two separate tracks, and had a different track order from the final release. The limited edition vinyl pressing of Woods V includes an exclusive producer's mix of "Finality" on the second disc, which is unavailable officially in other formats.
Also, a vinyl reissue has been announced by Earache Records, and it was released April 7, 2017.[4]
Response to the album was largely positive. About.com gave it a near perfect score of 4.5/5 stars,[5] while Metal Hammer Germany gave it 6/7, praising lead singer Gold's vocals and lyrics.
Charts and awards
On February 19, 2013, it was announced that Woods 5 had been nominated for a Juno Award for "Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year," along with the likes of Devin Townsend, Cancer Bats and Ex Deo,[8] an award that it went on to win.
On the afternoon of December 21, 2011, Gold was fatally struck by a semi truck and trailer while walking outside of his vehicle outside of Barrie, Ontario.
Online behavior and possible depression
Gold posted a total of 30 tweets on his Twitter account on December 18, 2011, just three days before his death. The tweets contain topics concerning the album's release, suicide, hope for the future and potential plans for Woods of Ypres for a possible "Woods 6(66)". The tweets seem to reflect that David was in a low or depressed mood at the time of the posting but seemed optimistic that the feelings will pass. There have been claims that Gold did in fact have a history of depression, and while these claims are very probable, no official confirmation has been released.
Possible suicide
Many fans use these tweets and the Woods 5 album, specifically the last three tracks (Kiss My Ashes (Goodbye), Finality, and Alternate Ending) as evidence to support the theory that Gold's death was intentional and that the album was a sort of suicide note, citing the final song on the album's lyrics, reading:
"In the darkness, under the stars, With enough warning, to pull off to the side, in time
In the end, was there anyone to share in your joy?
I woke up one day... and realized it was already over
Back On the highway, under the moon, my final moments, still wondering about you...
In the end, was there anyone to share in your joy?
I woke up for years without you, to realize it was already over, for me
Now making amendments... to the dream / story...
Changing the ending, as I would like it, to be
We were together, in a memory
And We live forever, in finality.
Holding on... To a dream...
When the end... couldn't come slow enough for me.
Holding on..."
Fans attribute this song, specifically the first two verses, as a sort of warning or call for help. This would be the last song that David Gold has officially recorded for any album. Fans also point to one of his final tweets, one of the thirty posted on December 18, where he states:
"When meanings become so heartbreakingly ironic, it's hard to face the final product when you live the meanings like a prophecy come true."
Family claims
All of the claims of Gold's death being a suicide have been denied by his family, who state that his death was an unfortunate accident and that he had many plans for upcoming future projects, including a solo music project and a european tour in 2012 with Woods of Ypres.
