Forest

Blazebirth Hall was a musical group in Russia that mainly consisted of black metal musicians. The group has seen its fair share of controversies, especially with some of their political views, but when you get down to the music in of itself, there's no doubt that these folks are talented in creating some raw, melodic, and atmospheric black metal. And in my opinion, the best band out of all of them is easily Forest. Ran by Kaldrad of Branikald, the band was formed in 1994 and won't see any official releases until two years with their first album "Forest".

This debut album is basically a prototype on what's to come in the future, as evident in the first track "As a Shade Above This Land". The guitar here starts off the track with a raw riff that sound dark, but is also a bit atmospheric with its repetitive riff. The drumming is also similar to the guitars, as it plays a basic blastbeat that goes on throughout the track. Composition-wise, it's one-note, and goes on for a long time with little to no variation, but the way these sounds are executed do pay off, as the cold and dark atmosphere the riffs evoke does give off a strong vibe at being in a dark and mysterious forest. And near the end of the track, the guitars change into playing a more slow and emotional riff, as well as the drums beating slower, but harder, ending off the track in a triumphant tone. The other tracks are more or less the same thing, but with some changes. For example, "The Flames and the Ash Before Horizons Opened Wide" takes on a more melodic approach, with its lighter riffs adding in more grandness in the atmosphere, as well as the track "Enburnst the Christian" taking on a darker tone with its anti-Christian themes. The structure might not be the most complex or technically impressive, but for simple atmosphere, they do get the job done.

However, it's not the first half that makes this album stand out. My copy of the album does come with some bonus material that, in my opinion, turns this decent album into a remarkable one. The fifth and sixth tracks are alternate versions of other tracks, which are okay, but they aren't as strong as their original counterparts. The 1994 version of As a Shade Above This Land in particular is a bit unique with a more folk-like approach, but is obviously in need of a rewrite. Beginning with the track "Winterhowl", however, is where it gets really impressive. The folk influences are at the max here, as the clean guitar plays a light, yet dark riff that only gets stronger as the track progresses. Kaldrad's vocals are also strong here, as while they were decent before, now, his shrieks are amplifying the vast atmosphere by adding in some horror into the beautiful landscape. And this is just the predecessor to the next and final track "ВетерВой", which is easily the best track on this album. It's very simple, with an acoustic guitar playing an emotional riff, along with some really basic drumming in the background. However, Kaldrad utilizes some epic chants throughout the track, not only further emphasizing the nightly atmosphere, but also further enhancing the emotions to a point where you wanna cry. These last two tracks on this album alone really make this album stand out, as they show off the album's strengths the most.

This review might feel a bit more bare-bones than usual, but that's because this album kind of is. As stated previously, this is before Forest's ideas came in full power, as the original tracks are good, but at the same time, I do kind of wish more was done in them. However, with the bonus tracks, they do truly show off the potential with Forest, especially in the last two tracks and their grand atmospheres. If you're looking for some simple Russian black metal with an emphasis on dark atmospheres, then you can't exactly go wrong with this album.

This demo does not fall into a single category: There is a definitive black metal, some folkish, melancholic, and even an avant-garde vibe to it. The guitar tone is metallic, with hints of punk, yielding a sound that is gritty and dirty, but also reasonably heavy. Production is good, and more reminiscent of an album than a demo.

Riffs are repetitive to the point that they seem to drag on forever, but they are not losing their grip on the listener's attention, thanks to an awake compositional mind behind them that knows how to inject addicting doses of harmonic shifts. These are effectively accompanied by the vocals, which are not typical black metal shrieks throughout. While raspy, they are also vigorous and somber, and can back melodies with clean or half-clean sung passages. The overall vocal performance is excellent.

Metal wisdom from all eras combined with Burzum, Graveland and especially Darkthrone influences is in full bloom here, as songs are progressions to conquer pivotal points, while song endings remain resolutionless; drumming is ambient and sparsely accentuated, but still varied compared to the band's later, even more reductionist output. The album starts off with the most primitive riff and largely devoid of variation, but it gradually adds layers and facets to the songs, and develops its theory as the album progresses. The culmination of this effort is the fourth track, which from elements scattered throughout the album's first half builds something greater: A Graveland-esque galloping rhythm and an infectious riff, with a tone heavy as fuck, but almost too primitive to sustain even a black metal song, all of a sudden (and not a second too early) breaks out into unearthly sinister and atmospheric variations, which resolve hints not only in the precursory sections, but give the entire first half of this album gravity and meaning.

While this song is climactic, it does not end the album. The final track transcends the black metal form and wanders in almost improvisational territory, remotely evocative of Esoteric and John Zorn. Unlike Burzum, Forest use no synthesizers in their concluding track and stick to their regular instrumentarium, and with this achieve a less isolationist and more organic effect.

This demo is a highly developed work, which absorbs influences ranging from classics like Slayer and Celtic Frost to contemporaries such as Burzum and Ildjarn, and is even pioneering pagan and depressive acts. And while its ingredients were not entirely new, it demonstrates a distinct take on black metal, and is not hesitant to draw strength from its own folkish influences and melancholic leanings. It ranks among the greater works of black metal.

As there seem to be several repackages of Forest’s self-titled debut album available, this review is based on a double vinyl set released by Werewolf Records (Finland) in 2006 which includes both the album and a 1994 self-titled demo. (A friend very kindly burned a CD-R of this set for me, otherwise it would have been very hard to find.) This means there are eight tracks under review altogether including two versions of the song “As A Shade Above This Land” plus two 20-minute tracks which take up half the set’s entire playing time. If you see comments about tracks that may not exist on your copy of the album, these comments are most likely about the 1994 demo tracks.

Caution aside, let’s go – well, regarding “As A Shade Above This Land” since I mentioned this first: both versions are good in their own way though superior production might make the album version (track 1) preferable over the demo version (track 6) for most people. Track 1 is very aggressive and has a robust sound while track 6 has a garage feel and is loose in execution and shouty. The tribal-sounding rhythm is stronger and more hypnotic on track 6 and if you don’t mind the primitive sound quality, you may actually like this version more. The song has a very strong and distinctive riff / rhythm structure on both versions.

The two 20-minute tracks mentioned earlier are “Winter Howl” and “CryWind”, and these are repetitive trance-like pieces featuring strummy balalaika-style guitars. Perhaps the original intention was to draw the listener into a dark atmospheric world of untamed forests, shadowy presences and pagan rituals. “Winter Howl” has a lot of wild, alien ululating wails and shrieks embellished with echo and the ambience can be hellish and desolate. “CryWind” at first is a gentler track with bubbly-toned guitar and heroically styled if rough vocals that become more aggressive and sinister as the track continues. There is a forlorn feel to the track due perhaps to the wandering and going-around-in-circles nature of the music and the bass guitar following a different melody at times. The production is basic but gives it a kind of acid-tinged, almost psychedelic ambience.

The other four tracks are solid and meaty affairs with a vocal style alternating between typically grim and raw BM singing on the one hand and a heroic operatic style on the other. “Above the Raging Sea” (track 5) sounds like it’s from the 1994 recording: it’s distinguished by heavy pounding drums and a wild, deranged style of singing and shouting. With the other songs (tracks 2 – 4), there is a definite musical identity: constant steely buzzing guitars, hammering drums that are often very martial and a minimalist, no-nonsense approach to writing and playing music with an emphasis on repeating riffs, occasional changes in key and pace, and no soloing, giving a very warlike, stern impression of the band. “Enburnst the Christian” has a fast loping kind of riff / rhythm combination in parts and “… Crimson in the Drowning” features riffs that are at once militaristic and stately.

I do find the long pieces can be self-indulgent and maybe the musicians were enjoying themselves too much at the time and got carried away. Maybe the music could have done with editing for length. The long tracks are quite a revelation though after the other songs, revealing a more eccentric, perhaps slightly unhinged side to the band which makes Forest more interesting than they might otherwise be. With “Above the Raging Sea”, I wonder whether they might have had too much to drink at the time! Overall though, this is a solid collection of songs with no filler from an early period in Forest’s career: the musicianship is consistent, songs are well-constructed and the members were confident, even arrogant, enough to tackle various unorthodox styles of singing and playing music to an extreme extent and being able to pull them off successfully.

The track listing for the recording under review as follows:
1/ As A Shade Above This Land
2/ The Flames and the Ash before Horizons opened Wide
3/ ... Crimson in the Drownin
4/ Enburnst the Christian
5/ Above the Raging Sea
6/ As A Shade Above This Land
7/ Winter Howl
8/ CryWind