Forest of Shadows
Departure
9
Departure marks the band's first full album after a lengthy and highly acclaimed EP and MCD for Sweden's Forest of Shadows. Originally beginning with one sole member, there's been a revolving lineup involving at least 7 people, but for this release, it's just the single man, Niclas Frohagen. Citing his influences on the website, Forest of Shadows plays a mixture of darkwave and doom ala Katatonia and My Dying Bride and meshes it with more modern doomy outfits like Cult of Luna through the use of thick and heavy guitar.
"Sleeping Death", the opening track which clocks in at 16:53, starts with more electronic elements and clean singing before successfully leaping to epic and full-sounding funeral doom with crushing growls. Everything's done so perfectly. The sorrowful crooning is on key, not overused, and pleasing in quality. Although the idea of such a long song may frighten some, with its acoustic melodies, the song could easily stretch to a half an hour without feeling redundant. While I'm sure many of you may shudder at the idea of electronics being incorporated into doom, you can lay your fears to rest as nothing ever comes across as banal or even slightly overbearing. This isn't an industrial/goth album. The shortest track on the album, "Bleak Dormition", is an instrumental that sounds slightly like Isis in the underlying guitar melody. "Open Wound" is based centrally around a slow and almost trip-hop beat before erupting into a grandiose movement with a choir full of rich keyboards. Mesmerizing double-bass drumming later enters and brings the song back to the initial verse. The song ends by winding down into anxious and sinister repetition before breaking back into the familiar beat mentioned before.
In the under-crowded doom market, it's remarkable to come across such a genuine and heartfelt band that never ventures near the unfortunate sickening sentimentality that a lot of bands make the mistake of getting caught up in. Long, slow, and monumentally depressing, Departure is a must-have for doom lovers of all levels of experience. Take it from me - I'm not even a fan of this type of doom and I love it.
Related
Forest of ShadowsSix Waves Of Woe
11/19/2008