FORGOTTEN WOODS

 

Not well known by the black-metal mass Forgotten Woods deserves great respect, their ’93 demo “Sjel Av Natten” (Vote 8.5) is a piece of black melancholic metal darkness. There are not so many bands that with only the guitars, without keyboards, have created such incredible gloomy and sombre vision. A lone wolf is the sign of that album, as in the cover, surrounded by a black dimension without hope, and an inhuman screaming for the vocals is the last sign of that misanthropic hymn. The quality of that demo was that great that in ’95 Pagan Record release it on a minicd. In the depressive art of “Sjel…” there are some Burzum’s influences, but after all they keep an original pattern, in a mid-tempo context.

The ’94 debut “As The Wolves Gather” (Vote 7.5) have some similarities with the demo, but also some differences, like with the thrash metal lines somewhere present. The voice is misanthropic and human as usual, with an absolutely sick effect, that like an obsession is present in every screaming. It’s surely less difficult to created a shorter demo but I have to admit that I prefer the deep essence of “Sjel…” to that new Forgotten Woods’s creation. The depressive force of their previous act is less present, and some songs haven’t a clear target, but fortunately the magic isn’t gone at all.

In 1996 came-out “The Curse Of Mankind” (Vote 7.5), the most difficult act of the band, probably because of the sound that keeps apart the guitars, occulting some probably interesting melodic lines, to over-expose vocals and drums. But when the situation become clearer there are some very intense moments, and the depressive chorus that in some moments appears is awesome. The music is in the same vain of the previous “As The Wolves Gathes”, a thrash-black metal usually mid-tempo with sharp vocals and a general gloomy atmosphere inside. The Forgotten’s music is not a thing simple to handle, but it can reveal some secrets that not so many bands have expressed.

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