Historia: Woods of Ypres Biography by Jason Jordan. Spearheading the Canadian black metal assault is the Ontario-rooted Woods of Ypres. Led by frontman David Gold (vocals, guitars), with invaluable assistance from bandmates Dan Hulse (bass, vocals) and Jessica Rose (keyboards), Woods of Ypres (pronounced E-pray) have persevered through lineup changes and personal hardships, but remain as determined as they were when they formed in 2002. Woods of Ypres self-financed debut album Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat (2002) was extolled for its passionate take on Ulver-esque black metal, a sound the Western hemisphere had rarely explored beforehand. In 2004, Gold and co. returned with Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth, which featured atypical black metal elements such as clean voice, acoustic guitar, and sun-centered lyrics to arrive at the apt classification Gold coined summer black metal. Similar to the debut, their sophomore effort was met with critical acclaim, and also spawned comparisons to seasoned veterans like Agalloch, Novembers Doom, and Opeth. The following year saw a remixed, remastered re-release of Against the Seasons, with striking new artwork, on Golds own label Krankenhaus Records. Anno 2007 marked the fifth anniversary of Woods of Ypres, and in January of 2008, they broke the silence with Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues. Revisiting many of the concepts that first appeared long ago on Against the Seasons, songs such as The Northern Cold and Your Ontario Town Is a Burial Ground point to familiar lyrical themes the unforgiving harshness of an Ontario winter, and Gold conflicted thoughts about his birthplace. For now, summer and fall have ended, and winter is here to stay, but, as the band is quick to remind, only for a season. Offering an abundance of black/doom metal from an inventive Canadian unit, the 15-track, 73-minute Woods III will be heralded as the finest Woods of Ypres record to date, and rightfully so.