It has been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than our own ocean floors. It’s not surprising; it’s a lot easier to look at the moon than it is to explore the ocean’s depths. Similarly, there are countless metal bands and albums that explore the themes of space and the cosmos. Few bands however dedicate themselves to exploring the oceans, and none have so committed themselves to it like nautik funeral doom (a sub-genre’s sub-genre they invented) titans Ahab. Since their inception, they have released four albums based on books and lore of the sea, and done so in a thunderously heavy style, with a good dose of aquatic atmosphere. In January they are set to release their latest after an eight-year wait with ‘The Coral Tombs’ based on Jules Verne’s classic ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea,’ and it was certainly worth the wait.

The story of Capt. Nemo and his Nautilus should need little introduction, the story has been told in film and TV for years. But fewer people these days seem to have read the book and truly met the tragic figure that is Nemo and the world that he inhabits and that the listener is plunged into along with Prof. Arronax. I’ve loved the novel for years, so was quite pleased to learn that this was the story on which the new album is based. The album begins with “Prof Arronax’ Descent Into The Vast Ocean” and, rather uncharacteristic of Ahab, the song starts with a fury of drumming and riffs. The song drops the listener along with the unfortunate professor in the middle of the dark ocean immediately after the unseen Nautilus sinks his ship. Alongside the barrage of riffs, we hear the signature deep roar of vocalist and guitarist Daniel Droste, and the guest screams of Chris Noir of ULTHA. Like most of their tracks, this one is on the longer side, so there is plenty of room for the song to breathe, and before long things quiet down and the music becomes calmer and atmospheric. The vocals change to the echoey clean style that Daniel used so effectively on their previous album ‘The Boats of the “Glen Carrig’. During this section, we meet Capt Nemo with the return of heavy music and the roar ‘and Nemo is my name!’ which frankly gives me chills with each listens, and the journey gets underway.

There are seven tracks in all, ranging in length from six and a half minutes to over twelve, so I can’t go track by track despite there being things to talk about for each. I will, however, go into the second track “Colossus Of The Liquid Graves” since the band released a stop motion video for it which is quite well made. The video and song explore the dangers of the deep, and more importantly the darkness and guilt within Nemo’s soul as he’s forced to see his friends and followers die, and be buried among the coral. This theme of his torment is continued in the harsh and significantly heavy “Mobilus in Mobili” which is the motto of the Nautilus and translates as “Moving within a moving element.” The song follows Nemo as he hunts down and sinks the ships of the unnamed nation that wronged him to the degree that he has chosen to live a life apart from all humanity. The good captain is not a monster, however, and the guilt that comes with the actions of his rage haunts him, but that comes more into play later.

Moving forward a bit we come to the longest song on the album “Aegri Somnia” which approximately translates as “a sick man’s dreams, or hallucinations.” It begins quietly with subtle guitar and light drumming from Cornelius Althammer before slowly building in tempo and heaviness. Clean vocals set the tone before the nightmare begins and the deep growls take over. Without the lyrics, it’s a bit unclear to me which part of the story this song is dealing with, but the deeper the ship goes, the more disturbing the professor’s dreams are, and the more unusual the sights. Still, laying back with one’s eyes closed has been good enough for me, and the song paints a picture of the deep gliding ship and mysteries that it could encounter. It’s a perfect title for the music, and the brooding slow nature and balance of the shifting music allow the listener to fully immerse themselves in the music and the images in their head.

The novel ends with the escape of Prof Arronax and his companions just before the guilt-ridden, near-insane Nemo dooms his ship to a great maelstrom and certain death. The album fittingly closed with “Maelstrom” and wraps the story up in an equally chilling manner. The band is joined at the end of the song by a true doom legend, Greg Chandler of Esoteric, who besides being a brilliant composer has one of the most unique growls in the genre. As Nemo steers the Nautilus into the swirling chaos the music builds and becomes more chaotic, and the climax of the duo growling of Greg and Daniel combined with the slow pound of the music is one of the most satisfying and emotional endings to an album I’ve heard from an extreme metal album.

Ahab may be a genre of one, but they exist within the larger world of extreme funeral doom, and no one sounds quite like them. They continue to push the boundaries of the doom genre with their mix of more traditional slow heaviness and lengthy passages of near-progressive atmospheric lightness while retaining a healthy balance of vocal styles. It’s been a long wait between albums, but ‘The Coral Tombs’ is a magnificent return, and very well may be the best of their career. Fans of forward-thinking extreme music take note, this one will be talked about for a long time.