Review: In The Woods… – Otra
In the Woods…’s first installement was great. Even setting nostalgic transfiguration aside, the band released amazing record. Coming back from hiatus in 2014, but with only one original member and a revolving line-up ever since, the later records are a mixed bag.
“Otra” is a deeply atmospheric journey that pulses with melancholic grace and episodic grandeur. This album carves its own path across seven expansive tracks, where the weight of storytelling meets progressive metal sensibilities. The opening track is a deliberate invitation, meandering through sorrow-tinted melodies and gentle acoustic folk before giving way to weighty riffs and impassioned vocals. It sets the tone for a record that swells in emotional resonance and seasonal transformation.
This isn’t blackened doom in the raw sense of their early work, nor is it avant-garde experimentation the way fans of the late 90s may remember. Instead, “Otra” employs a more restrained framework—one of elegiac repetition and gradually shifting textures. The riffs are melodic and sometimes hypnotic, often leaning into rock-infused structures with a measured weight. It’s a sound that invites reflection rather than relentless intensity.
The vocal performance remains a double-edged sword. There is undeniable range and power, and the clean delivery does lend the music its soaring moods. Yet there are moments when it drips with a kind of theatrical sheen, which makes it less rooted in emotional rawness and more in dramatic presentation. The aggressive vocals burst through with intensity, but sometimes feel tacked on rather than organically ingrained.
Several compositions drift through evocative atmospherics and build toward stirring crescendos, but not all connect. One track feels episodic rather than seamless, its transitions between calm and fury occasionally clumsy. Yet this unevenness also points to the album’s daring: the band dares to make the clean-heavy contrast feel confrontational, even if the juxtaposition occasionally overreaches.
The mythic core of the album is underscored by melodic shifts and somber moods throughout, giving the record an undertow of mysticism and strong (maybe too strong) Amorphis-vibe. There is brooding beauty here, most potent when the arrangements center around drawn-out riffs and echoed clean vocals. The melancholic landmarks are there, but they’re tempered with a polished sheen that distances them from visceral impact.
Another moment of tension springs from the balance of heaviness and majesty. Some tracks surge with progressive energy, others reflect with folk-like introspection. These swings, however, don’t always land. For every instance of graceful union between weight and melody, there’s another where cohesion gives way to disquieting fragmentation.
In the Woods… clearly know how to craft layered, emotional music. But this time, the craftsmanship sometimes distances the listener more than it immerses. “Otra” announces maturity and compositional clarity, yet sometimes it feels too calculated, too measured. Fans seeking the band’s psychedelic ferocity or freeform experimentation might find it too refined. Those looking for melodic grandeur may find its half-measures just tantalizing rather than transcendent. It delves into occasional theatrical excess, uneven dynamics, and a controlled tone that holds back from full eruption. “Otra” is an album that at some points charm and intrigue, but not necessarily haunt.
