The Masters of Slavonic Forests

Forgotten Spirit's "The Masters of Slavonic Forests" is one of those great Black Metal albums that no one has ever heard of. It was released way before the popularity of the Ukrainian scene exploded and was very well ahead of its time, featuring a ton of influences, ranging from early Ulver-esque folk parts to early Swedish melodeath leadwork.

Remember, this was released in 1997, so the range of influences is quite astonishing for the time. Izot's vocal work sounds quite a bit like a mix of Varathron's Necroabyssius and Beherit's deeper tone on "Drawing Down The Moon". Yes, quite an interesting combination, indeed. Some female vocals do appear from time to time, along with some spoken word passages - both fit well into the sound of "The Masters of Slavonic Forest".

The drums sound very heavy and driving, which is a blessing due to the nice work displayed by drummer Ares. His technical skills are definitely above average; he's not only relying on speed, but also on great fills, doublebass parts and interesting cymbal work.

As I said, there are several early melodic death metal influences in Forgotten Spirit's sound. They are mostly found in short lead breaks or extended fills, showcasing high-speed harmonized tremolo-picking, similar to what Unleashed and Dismember did on their mid-era albums, but closer to the former. A nice addition to Forgotten Spirit's already quite melodic sound.

A well-equipped studio did definitely not do the production job, but the overall audio quality is decent. The bass could be a bit louder, but that is just a minor gripe. Another minor flaw is the use of somewhat overlong folk parts. They tend to sound nice, but sometimes they forgot to bring the excellent riffing back in and those parts start dragging after a while.

Overall, "The Masters of Slavonic Forests" is a very good, and dare I say - quite unique - melodic black metal album of epic proportions. I hope some of those who read this review will check this EP out.

It's definitely worth it.