ALBUM REVIEW: Dove - "Dove Discography"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Compilation

Date Released:08/11/2017

Label: Independent

When Dove became the vehicle for the Floor approach, it could not have been more energizing. Listening to "Dove Discography," you will hear why; Dove's melodic vision for doom is competitive with anything you will hear today, and maybe better in several cases.  "Dove Discography" is such a good listen because it feels contemporary, even if it isn't. In the end, you finish with an appreciation for artists like this, who have tried to expand the sound and stretch doom to new boundaries.

“Dove Discography”DD track listing

1. Thank You For Patience

2. Goes Without Saying

3. On A Mission  

4. Red King          

5. Neither Today Nor Tomorrow

6. Twenty Three Twelve

7. Somewhere Between 

8. This You Can Trust

9. Without Warning

10. You And I

11. Start Running Now     

12. Never A Straight Line

13. Sight And Seen

14. See You Soon, Love Always    

15. Time Get Crucial

16. One Year After

17. Eight Letters

18. What is Best in Life

19. Seven Days

20. Octobers Winds

The Review:

Nostalgia for big-name performers can at times be a messy business. It is debatable if the world needs a farewell tour from a nearly 70-year-old Ozzy Osbourne, who's spending his down time from performing old hits taping a travel show with his son, Jack. And though Ozzy is an easy target, there are no shortage of acts in it for years or split up who try to stage a return. The nicer among us wonder how this impacts upon their legacies. The rest of us wonder if music really needs a recycle bag of old records and what space it takes away from bands coming through and without the name recognition.

In the case of Dove, a Floridadoom outfit that shares lineage with the legendary bands Torche and Floor, their return from the dustbin, at least in recorded form, feels like something many of us have waited for.

In the early 2000s, Dove offered a classic doom style that you might have heard through the embers of in Floor, a sound that would influence many bands afterward. Dove'smusic has been out of print for many years, however. This includes a 2001 split and the group's self-titled 2004 debut, which is featured in full as the first 14 tracks of the new "Dove Discography." It is, to hear the band tell it, everything Doverecorded from 2001 to 2005, from compilation appearances to demos.

The question is then, 'should you thus give a crap?' The answer is, most emphatically, yes

Even more than 10 years later, Dove's eponymous album stands up astoundingly well. Hardcore doom fans may be familiar with Floor and the style it pioneered. The swirling, psychedelic take on doom that relied more on sludge than stoner, the merger of post-rock and progressive elements counts many dads and Flooris certainly one of the more important ones. When Dove became the vehicle for the Floorapproach, it could not have been more energizing. Listening to "Dove Discography," you will hear why; Dove'smelodic vision for doom is competitive with anything you will hear today, and maybe better in several cases.  A song like "See You Soon, Love Always" is an example of a doom record that can be legitimately gorgeous in its orchestration. "Time Get Crucial" introduces some world music touches to its heavy base. And even short cuts such as "Neither Today Nor Tomorrow" and "Twenty Three Twelve" are still effective at showing you Dove can kick ass in three minutes or less. Unusual today, and pretty audacious 13 years ago too.

"Dove Discography" is such a good listen because it feels contemporary, even if it isn't. In the end, you finish with an appreciation for artists like this, who have tried to expand the sound and stretch doom to new boundaries.

"Dove Discography" is available here

Band info: bandcamp