Woods of Ypres was formed in Windsor, Ontario in 2002 by David Gold, Aaron Palmer, and Brian McManus. The trio released the first Woods Of Ypres demo, Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat, the same year, later expanding to a quintet for 2003 concerts. That December, David Gold moved to Toronto to begin working on a full-length album. In 2004, the band's first full-length album, Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth, ... See more [+] was released on David Gold's record label, Krankenhaus Records. The third Woods of Ypres album, Woods III: The Deepest Roots and Darkest Blues, was released at the end of 2007. Contrasting the two albums, critic Laura Taylor wrote, "While Pursuit of the Sun verged on metalized Pink Floyd, Woods’ latest unearths more of the band’s black and dark metal inspirations". After a work stint in South Korea, David Gold moved the band to his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 2008, where they recorded their fourth album Woods IV: The Green Album the following year. Released in November 2009, Exclaim! called it "the band's most amorphous and powerful creature so far."Earlier in 2009, Woods of Ypres also put out a compilation of 12 of the songs from their three main Krankenhaus-released albums entitled Independent Nature 2002-2007 and a vinyl-only single release of their 2004 song "Allure of the Earth", which also featured a cover of that song by Australian cellists Sebastian Simpson and Chris Doig. Sessions towards an unreleased EP named Woods 4.5: You Were The Light were made in Sault Ste. Marie in 2010 as well, but just two tracks from those sessions have been released as part of a vinyl-only single named Home in 2011, which has retroactively been referred to as Woods 4.5 in some interviews. Woods of Ypres announced their breakup in late 2010 partly due to frontman David Gold's move to Kuwait for work reasons, but it was announced that fall that the split was entirely false, and that Woods of Ypres had signed to Earache Records, who would later put out the band's last two studio albums. Woods of Ypres' lineups had been noticeably unstable since their inception, with only David Gold participating on every release by the band. Woods of Ypres' live lineups ranged from three to six members at differing points, with lineups almost completely changing when Gold relocated the band, while two of their full length albums only credit two musicians as full band members. Singles and compilations aside, the only band member to appear on two of the band's main albums other than Gold was keyboardist Jessica Rose, who performed on both Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth and Woods III. Woods of Ypres played their last concert in Richmond, Virginia on June 9, 2011. Band members David Gold and Joel Violette recorded the band's final studio album Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light that August at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario. On December 21, 2011, David Gold died at age 31, in an automobile collision near Barrie, Ontario. Gold's passing ended plans for Woods of Ypres to play their first ever European tour in early 2012, along with scuttling the planned debuts of new band members Brendan Hayter and Rae Amitay. Guitarist Joel Violette has indicated in interviews that Woods of Ypres will not record a new studio album without Gold, effectively ending the band. Woods of Ypres' fifth and final studio album, Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light, was released on February 27, 2012 in Europe, with the North American release coming two months later. The band received a posthumous Juno nomination in the Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year category for Woods V in February 2013.
