Forest of Shadows - Six Waves of Woe (2008)

Forest of Shadows released a good debut in Departure a few years back, and this sophomore effort shows an increase in both maturity and depth to Niclas Frohagen's brand of swelling, transcendent doom.
Consider that this is the work of a single man and you'll be even more impressed.

Six Waves of Woe is a pretty direct title; each of these six songs is an emblem of sadness upon a tear-stained, frozen landscape. "Submission" takes off with some very minimal atmosphere, percussion and some light guitar chords breeding a somber theme, then picking it up with driving gothic doom and the man's sad, clean vocals. "Selfdestructive" once again starts things out slowly, but very catchy, until crushing you with its weight. Though his clean vocals are effective, I vastly prefer his growling which kicks in with this track. "Detached" is another song in roughly the same formula, but I was most pleased with "Moments in Solitude" which just starts out directly with a wall of soaring doom and downward spiral of melody. "Pernicious" also cuts straight to the chase, another of my favorites here. The closer "Deprived" has a similar format to the first few tracks but it's also quite good. As far as lyrics, well...we have an expression 'qq a little more' in online gaming, and this would probably apply to these very depressing words. But for the style of music they fit beautifully.

You truly can't lose here if you are a fan of the crushing gothic death/doom of early Anathema, Paradise Lost, or My Dying Bride. But Six Waves of Woe will likewise appeal to fans of the more driving, melodic style of Katatonia, Rapture or Daylight Dies. Either way, you win (or lose, it's doom after all). Recommended to ruin those last few warm, sunny days of your year. Unless you live where it's warm all year round, in which case...fuck you!?

Verdict: Win [7/10] (I, too, felt the world turn away)

http://www.forestofshadows.com/