Review Summary: While it falls a bit short of the masterpiece Bath, Leaving Your Body Map displays excellent musicianship and composition throughout its hour duration.
In the world of progressive rock, 2001 is known for being the year that Opeths Blackwater Park and Tools Lateralus were released. These two albums were commonly hailed as classics by fans of the genre all over the world. However, there were two more prog albums released in 2001 that also received critical acclaim and praise, without reaching anywhere near the commercial success as the two albums I listed above. These two albums were Bath and Leaving Your Body Map by avant-garde progressive metal outfit maudlin of the Well. Bath and Leaving Your Body Map are part 1 and 2 of an almost “separate double album” like project, much like Opeths Damnation and Deliverance. While not necessarily “overlooked”, and certainly not “forgotten” in maudlin of the Wells unfortunately short but fantastic discography, Leaving Your Body Map received significantly less praise than its sister, Bath. This is unfortunate, as it is not only a nice companion to Bath, but also an excellent collection of songs in its own right.
First off, how does Leaving Your Body Map differ from Bath? The easy thing to say would be that Body Map showcases maudlins aggressive side more than Bath does. The opening track "Stones of Octobers Sobbing" demonstrates this perfectly. Although it starts off soft with clean guitar and a flute, after the growling and distorted guitars come in, the difference is made apparent. The next track "Gleam in Ranks" begins with a jazzy piano part, but soon morphs into another heavy song with very scary sounding clean vocals, blistering guitar leads, and a very tight bass and drum groove. The two-part death metal suite "Riseth He The Numberless" is somewhat reminiscent of Baths "They Aren’t All Beautiful". Both parts are among the heaviest this album has to offer, and while part 1 may sound soft at first due to the majestic but evil sounding trumpet intro, it soon turns to a flurry of fast guitar, double kick, and growled vocals, climaxing with a short but excellent guitar solo courtesy of lead guitarist Greg Massi.
After reading that last paragraph, one could be forgiven for thinking that Leaving Your Body Map consists solely of heavy material. This is certainly not the case, and songs such as the folk ballad "Sleep is a Curse" and the dreamy "Monstrously Low Tide" (barring the metal intro) prove that Leaving Your Body map can be just as beautiful as Bath when it wants to. Pretty moments are even displayed in some of the heavier parts of the album, such as the flute solo in "Stones of Octobers Sobbing". Also worth mentioning are the two interludes, which are both arguably much prettier and more engaging than their counterparts on Bath. "(Interlude 3)" includes an absolutely beautiful clarinet solo over pretty acoustic guitars and simple percussion, and while "(Interlude 4)" takes a bit to get going, the violins near the end are simply gorgeous.
Vocal duties are shared by composer Toby Driver and lyricist Jason Byron. Toby sings the clean vocals, and his voice not only adds another layer of beauty to the soft sections, but also adds another layer of menace to the heavier ones. His falsetto is also heaped with emotion, which is showcased best on "Sleep is a Curse", earning him the obvious comparisons to Jeff Buckley. Jason Byron handles the growls, and while his vocals aren’t featured as much as Toby’s are, they are fantastic when they pop up. His growls are very deep, strong, and impressive overall. Not to mention that he is easy to understand much of the time, which is an added bonus because his lyrics are brilliant. The majority of them deal with the process of Astral Projection, which Toby claims was used to compose motWs music. Certainly difficult for most people to relate to, but very interesting and well written nonetheless. Also of note are the vocals of female singer Maria-Stella Fountoulakis, whose lovely soprano is featured on "Monstrously Low Tide" and "The Curve That to an Angle Turn’d".
However, there are a few minor issues that keep this album from a 5. The first section of "Bizarre Flower/A Violent Mist", while interesting at first, simply goes for just a bit too long. This is disappointing, because after this section is over, the song becomes one of the albums finest moments. Also, after the brilliance of "Riseth He The Numberless part 1", part 2 fails to catch my attention and comes across as one of the weaker sections of the album. While it certainly isn’t a bad song, and certainly not a “skip” track, it feels just a little bit underwhelming compared to the rest of the album.
So the question you’re probably asking right now is “Is this as good as Bath?”. Well, the answer is unfortunately a no, but it comes awful close, and ends up being just shy of a 5. So if you can look past the minor flaws I listed above and want to hear some beautifully composed music, or if you’ve heard Bath and don’t quite know where to go next, this album is for you.
