DOVE — Dove (review)

Album · 2004 · Sludge Metal

4.5/5 · 2017-05-02
aglasshouse

Somewhere along the messy musical family tree that stemmed from the doom-laden Miami metal scene, progenitors of said tree being sludge band Cavity and doom band Floor in the mid-late 90's, a short-lived project (at least in the studio) titled Dove was formed in the early 00's. This said project made it's debut in 2001 on a split with another project by multi-instrumentalist Henry Wilson, that of course being the band Floor. Albeit a short debut it was, Dove's song from the split 'One Year After' foretold a great future for this group.

Cut to three years later. Cavity called it quits in '03, only to resurface much later in 2015, and Floor underwent a long 10-year hiatus, releasing a set of unreleased songs recorded in 1994 as it's own studio album. This release, titled Dove, would funnily enough not really draw many connections between it and the project Dove's self-titled debut and sole release that came around in the same year. While not exactly able to sonically obfuscate his past in Floor, Henry Wilson is still able to create a cohesive power-house trio that is able to, blow-by-blow, deliver a solid release that rivals even that of his prior work.

Dove is an album, and by extension a music group, that takes up the torch of Floor's smothering brutality and Cavity's sludgy experimentation and creates a perfect blend of the two. The album delivered is melodic, punchy, and enjoyable. Dove follows a similar format to the Floor studio debut of 2002, i.e being a collection of relatively short songs that act as more of a singular epic that flow seamlessly between each-other. This is extenuated with the more evident influence of Black Sabbath on this particular release, as Wilson is able to almost flawlessly emulate Tony Iommi's surrealistic crunch to a T. Drummer John Ostberg is the key foundation (aside from Wilson's echoing vocals) to the classic Floor element of Dove, with his extreme similarity to Jeff Sousa (drummer that appears on the Floor album Dove) in his rigidity and tight-knit performance. Jewel is a new character to the fray, acting as bassist. What he lends to the equation is far from ineffectual, because he provides an element that is quintessential in Dove's formula- ambiance. The wavering emanations that seem to rise from each instrument, forming a cloud of doom & gloom is heavily in part due to Jewel's work, and it turns what would otherwise be a by-the-numbers album into quite the experience.

Unfortunately Dove was a firecracker, going off with a huge bang, but dying subsequently and sadly. Dove would go on to play underground live performances with like-minded sludge bands like The Sword and Starchild, but their studio career was over. However the one product we received was exemplary. From the acoustic opening to the brazen finish, 2004's Dove is a little relic of history that not only provides insight into some of Florida's most interesting metal groups but also stands on it's own as a memorable piece of art that maintains it's dignity through the years.