From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain

Like another reviewer here, I was psyched when I first heard about Voices back in 2012 or so because I had been crushed by the demise of Akercocke, and any project boasting any of their former members was a a glimmer of hope that I might find something similarly evil, Satanic, frightening.

Then I heard From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain (henceforth referred to simply as Forest), and was utterly disappointed. There is no trace of The Desolate One or any black magick on this record, the guitars are often dissonant in a weird modern way, and at no point do the vocals sound evil. This album actually somehow sounds extremely urban, very city-based, and that is not at all what I came to it looking for. Yes, this was certainly not Akercocke and it did not scratch my itch for more Akercocke.

But I occasionally came back to Forest nonetheless, and it didn't take me long to realize that if I didn't compare this band or album to Akercocke or any of their albums, if I simply listened to Forest with no preconceived notions of what I had wanted it to sound like or what I should expect from it, it was just as amazing as my favourite Akercocke albums. The easiest way for me to explain this is that Akerocke makes music for sick spirits, while Voices makes music for sick minds. Listening to Forest is like spending an hour inside a confused, frightened, violent, inexplicably hateful mind.

Lucky for me, I love that kind of thing.

Now, there is very little about this album I dislike. I think the guitars and drums are pummeling (David Gray's choice of beats and fills is superb as it ever was in Akercocke, he just knows exactly what to do to amp the energy up at the right moment). The harsh vocals are perfectly tortured and furious. The clean vocals are haunting. The piano and keyboards are tasteful and add interesting textures and feels. My only complaint about the sounds of this record is the bass guitar is eq'd oddly, so it never sounds quite right on any of my speakers -- it's either too bassy or not bassy enough, even within a single song. I find this is most notable in the bridge of the opening track, Dnepropetrovsk. The bass guitar makes speakers start to woof then. Very unfortunate.

But that's my only complaint. Lyrics are where most bands fall down for me but I have no complaints with this record. The lyrics are as fucked up and awful as I could hope for, and always leave me feeling dismal, hopeless, deranged. I have so much respect for art that is able to transport a listener like that, to really make you feel something so strongly, and Forest does that incredibly well.

I think this is a fantastic record that doesn't get enough attention. What a statement for Voices to have made, coming out of the gates. It was so brave of them to eschew all the Akercocke-ish traits they could have leaned on, to make a debut album so fiercely different from their previous band that everyone was clamoring for more of at the time. It's a challenging record, and I think it went over the heads of most listeners but I hope that time will be kind to Forest, and that as the years go by, more people will look back at this record and marvel at it the same way I do.