BATH

Bath is the second full-length studio album by American ( Boston, Massachusetts) experimental/ progressive metal act Maudlin of the Well. The album was released on the Dark Symphonies label along the third full-length studio album by the band Leaving Your Body Map (2001) shortly before Maudlin of the Well disbanded. The album was re-released in 2005 with three bonus tracks in The Ocean, The Kingdom, And The Temptation (Demo), Uncovering The Gift and The Horror Of Lunars Retreat.

The music on the album is very diverse and the band takes elements from many genres and mix them into their own style. Death metal parts, mellow acoustic sections and atmospheric parts. There are both growling and clean male vocals as well as female vocals in the music.

The musicianship is excellent and the variation in the music gives the musicians the opportunity to show various sides of their skill.

The production is good. The sound quality is much better than on the debut My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible (1999).

Bath is an interesting experimental/ progressive metal album but I can´t say it moves my world. The vocal melodies seem a bit weak and they are not very memorable to these ears. Overall the album comes off a bit inconsistent to me. Maudlin of the Well have many excellent ideas in their music but generally the mood in the songs and the diverse nature of their music don´t suit my taste. I´ve given it many spins but still miss the charm that I know others hear. A 3 star rating is deserved.