Заревом над прахом / Like a Blaze Above the Ashes

Forest's last album might've not been perfect, but there was some potential sprinkled into the tracks. Kaldrad seemed to have noticed this too, because in 1997, the band released another album titled "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes". Unlike last time, though, we can already start to see the signature sounds of Forest come to fuision. Not only are the atmospheres stronger here, but the craftsmanship in the instrumentals have especially improved a lot.

Beginning with the first track "Звоном молотов зови", things initially feel like it's gonna be the same. We hear a guitar play a dark, yet melodic riff that repeats a similar riff throughout the track, as well as some repetitive blastbeats and a bass that's barely audible. However, the main difference here is that this track evokes an even grander atmosphere than the previous album. The self-titled album had a good atmosphere, but it felt a bit restricted and not as vast, whereas here, it truly feels like you're in the sky and watching over acres of forestland. And this is just a warmup for the second-half of the album, which includes my favorites tracks from this band. The third track "Лютой стуже" is a nearly-17 minute epic that mainly consists of a droning guitar riff that is raw, but is very melodic and atmospheric in composition and structure, which builds up into an amazing black metal part that leans more towards folk tunes. And it gets even better with the album's closing track "Тьма", which mainly consists of a calming acoustic guitar that plays a soft riff. It's simple, but it's very effective at its folk-like atmosphere, and it even rivals some of the other folk tracks that Branikald did at that time. The only "weak" instrumental is with the second track "Холодом знанья злом возданья", as while it's still good, felt more like leftovers for the first track. Otherwise, the instruments on this album have improved greatly, and its atmospheric moments are much stronger.

And as for the vocals, they've also been improved upon. Kaldrad does the vocals here again, and he does continue doing the same shrieks and growls he did in the last album. However, when paired up with these kinds of instrumentals, they actually feel more stronger. Going back to the first two tracks, the more atmospheric nature of the raw riffs flow well with Kaldrad's shrieks, as he further enhances the angst and anger in the riffs. And in the last track in particular, Kaldrad goes for some folk-like chants that have a strong echo effect, only further expanding the grand atmosphere as well as adding some sorrow with some occasional shrieks. The vocals are still as amazing as ever, and are only further strengthened with the fantastic instruments.

Besides the second track being a bit weaker, just about every other track on here is damn near perfection. Whether it be the raw, atmospheric black metal in the first track or the chilling, yet calming acoustic guitar in the last track, Like a Blaze Above the Ashes is generally a beautiful album that serves as a great successor to the last record. We haven't even gotten into the next two records, which are actually even better, but for now, this album is something you cannot miss out on.