AHAB

Live Prey NAPALM

Nautical funeral doom crew steer back to their base

Not only have Ahab grown in strength and versatility over the course of four albums, they’re also one of the few acts in the mostly studio-bound world of funeral doom able to translate their excruciatingly slow and suffocating music to the stage. This extremely well-recorded album chronicles a 2017 set at the Death Row Festival in their native Germany. But as tight and crushing as Live Prey is, regretfully the five lengthy tracks are culled solely from their 2006 debut album, The Call Of The Wretched Sea, where the abyssal four-piece had yet to achieve the sophistication of later masterpieces such as The Giant. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Skepticism, Shape Of Despair, Draconian OLIVIER BADIN