This is a new demo featuring some earlier material from the ultra-fuzzy UK black metal band Old Forest. I have a sweet spot for bands who can capture this extremely gritty tone, and the vocals of Kobold (former Meads of Asphodel) are just intense as they echo across the nightmare skies of this dark and forbidding world.The EP has four tracks, each of them glorious in the most vile and lo-fi of atmospheres conjured by the tinny drums, ominous background synths and churning chords of "Where Trees are Withered" or the blasphemous bass pumping below the sleaze-ridden morass of "To Haunt the Old Forest". "Hymn of the Deep" is a little gloomier and doomier with some creepy organ and seeping ooze. "Become the Gods of War" might be what results from a jam session between Burzum and Manowar, only more beautiful...
I can't help but feel Old Forest is both hilarious and captivating. There was not a moment of this material in which I was not either in rapture or slapping my kneecaps laughing at the dark genius of these madmen Kobold, Beleth and 'Lord Grond'. All misplaced irony inside, this would be a phenomenal fucking demo whether it was recorded a decade ago or last Wednesday at the pub. All of the tracks are available on their 1999 full-length Into the Old Forest. This demo is also available for free, a deal you just can't beat. Bottom line: if you don't like this, you and I would probably not get along.
Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]
http://www.myspace.com/oldforestofficial
1 comment:
Into the Old Forest was a sweet release, thanks for reviewing this one.
Post a Comment