AHAB - GERMANY

The Call Of The Wretched Sea - 2006 - Napalm
The Divinity Of Oceans - 2009 - Napalm
The Giant - 2012 – Napalm
The Boats Of The Glen Carrig – 2015 – Napalm
Live Prey – 2020 - Napalm
The Coral Tombs - 2023 - Napalm

Ahab image
  
 
Members
Vocals
Penetralia, Midnattsol>>DANIEL DROSTE>>Midnattsol

Guitar
Penetralia, Midnattsol>>CHRISTIAN HECTOR>>Midnattsol – Penetralia, Midnattsol, Endzeit>>DANIEL DROSTE>>Midnattsol


Bass
Endzeit>>Stephan Adolph>>Stillborn, Midnattsol - Dead Eyed Sleeper>>STEPHAN WANDERNOTH>>Dead Eyed Sleeper

Drum
Mystic Circle, Legacy, Dead Eyed Sleeper, Deadlock, Ekranoplan, Svärd, Raptvre>>CORNELIUS ‘CORNY’ ALTHAMMER>>Dead Eyed Sleeper, Ekranoplan, Svärd, Raptvre


Keyboard
Penetralia, Midnattsol>>DANIEL DROSTE>>Midnattsol




History & Biography
Members of Midnattsol - with a clear Moby Dick inspiration - formed the Bavarian doom metal band Ahab in 2004. This influence would yield a thematic debut album in 2006. Prior to the album, the band would issue a demo called The Oath. Ahab would also play at the Doom Shall Rise festival in 2005. The members held Arabic names for a while. Corny Althammer of the German death metal band Legacy contributes drums. The band picked The Divinity Of Oceans as the title for its sophomore album, which was due in July through Napalm Records. Christian Hector was forced to sit out the band's tour for "personal reasons." Filling in for him on the jaunt with Dornenreich was Markus Sailer of The Exorial. The 2011 edition of Madrid Is The Dark Festival was taking place on the 08th, 09th and 10th of December at the Old School venue in Getafe, Spain. Ahab was taking part. Ahab completed its third album, The Giant, which was due in the summer of 2012 through Napalm Records. Live Prey was recorded in Germany. The Tape Collection 2004 – 2015 was a 2021 boxed set. An October 2021 tour in Germany was postponed. Ahab and Stagwounder conducted a mini-tour in late 2022.

The nautical theme continued with the 2023 album The Coral Tombs being a concept record based on Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas book of 1870. The band was booked for Summer Breeze 2023.

The group referred to itself as “Nautik.”


Reviews

AHAB - THE CALL OF THE WRETCHED SEA - NAPALM  
Midnattsol, the other band of the Ahab members, is described as “folk metal” by the label. It is safe to say that the description makes certain that this reviewer would not check out said band. The members’ other act might be of the wimpy variety, but that description does not extend to Ahab, described as German funeral doom. The Call Of The Wretched Sea, which is based on the Herman Melville 1851 novel Moby Dick, is a dark dirge of doom comparable to acts like Shape of Despair, Catacombs and Thergothon. In its confined sub-genre Ahab is not the slowest of the bands, but the movement is constricted nonetheless as dictated by the confines of the style and certainly in tune with the aforementioned bands. The guitars are thick, the drums percussive and with deep vocals akin to leviathan himself the album lacks nothing. The distorted bass on The Hunt leaves little to chance. As good as the album is and as potent as the conveyed emotions, fans of the book and its significance will probably derive added meaning and pleasure from the discling.
The blissful among us need to dive into this album in order to gain empathy for the wretched who, in turn, need this music in order to drown themselves in their abyss - once and for all. - Ali “The Metallian”


Interviews







Ahab