What we have here is the third instalment of what Ahab refers to as their “Nantucket Saga”, the final piece that ends the journey from “The Oath” in 2005 over “Call of the Wretched Sea” in 2007 to this new album, “The Divinity of Oceans”.

The theme of the album is still the merciless sea and the human insignificance and horrific losing battle against the water. This time the literature that has inspired the lyric (and music) on the album comes from the two novels “In the Heart of the Sea” by Nathanial Philbrick and “The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex” by Owen Chase. The latter a story about a failed whale hunt that ends in the ship sinking and the crew facing the horrors of cannibalism and an uncertain fate.

But how does it sound then, the last album in a trilogy that has given us some splendid Funeral Doom Metal. Rest assured, nothing has changed, Ahab still plays ultra slow Funeral Doom with long compositions moving relentlessly forward. That is not to be confused with dragging forward, since Ahab has succeeded in creating an album where the long compositions keep on being interesting for the more than an hour of music you get for your money.

If one should care to compare The Divinity of Oceans to Call of the Wretched Sea a new thing is the inclusion of clean vocals. I think it works very well and together with some more mellow passages adds yet another layer to this fine piece of work.

The production is excellent and even though the album perhaps is not as heavy as its predecessor, it is just as good or even better!