Sorrow

The last album by Hate Forest features seven tracks of straight to the point black metal with simple song arrangements and trademark Hate Forest melting guitar chords. While Battlefields was slower and doomier with keyboards, Sorrow strips it all back with no synth and solid drum sequencing which during the constant blast beats give the effect of a skipping CD.

The backbone of the riffs are at times basic but there is often a slight twist on the structure or accent points within the riff to make it sound less generic. Hate Forest's vocals have always struck me as being relatively unique after hearing Scythia and are as to be expected on this recording (except a lot better in the mix). A favourite aspect of mine about this album is his ability to hold back from oversaturating the music with vocals, so that the riffs and drums can create a monotonous ambience (Burzum, Darkthrone).

All the tracks on this release end abruptly, as if the power were cut off during the recording. This among other many obvious elements of the recording indicate a probable home computer job. Regardless of which, it is clear that Hate Forest have spent time in writing and structuring their songs and the result is a release that emits the bleakest and coldest atmosphere a black metal album has given me in recent times. The end of the project after this album is very unfortunate.