FYU - Review: Forbidden Forest

Tuesday, February 9 2010

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Review: Forbidden Forest

Written by [86/100] Gunther

FORBIDDEN FOREST – Enter
Self Financed – MCD2007

Once in a while I am pleasantly surprised by albums ending up on my desk. For me, Forbidden Forest from Norway is a totally new discovery. Although these guys are fairly new as a band (since last year) they already shared stages with Satyricon and Keep Of Kallessin.

“From Norway you say? So it’s going to be mainly black metal influenced”. That’s what you might think. The bio reads that they won’t be defined by the limits of a genre, something I’ve surely read before, but it is the nature of the mix that surprises me. Yes, blastbeats emerge once in while along with sandpaper grunts and screams. But mostly the music of Forbidden Forest bears a totally different feel. The main part is comprised of fast guitar melodies and clear vocals, altered with enough “aggressive” input to grasp the attention of fans from different metal genres. I hear epic passages that hold references to both classic heavy metal and the kind of doom metal that spoke of wondrous tales. In these parts, the band Solstice crosses my mind also because of the ruff edges that are just there and seem to claim their rightful place. Further on, deep hurls make me feel like listening to some raw edge death metal act, while fast assaults hold some hints to black metal, followed by some melodic thrash metal work. This is certainly the case in “United Stains” wherein aggressive Clear Vocals strangely remind me of Testaments’ “demonic”.
Some might fear an incomprehensible chaos, but nothing is further from the truth. These guys manage to forge a nice blend of different old school styles, with a modern touch in some places while keeping some slightly ruff edges intact. The latter might be an acquired taste, but I think the “not overdone” - style has its’ place here, as it sure isn’t hiding anything. The mix of all influences also stirs up very different emotions, which seems also to be pursued in the lyrical content. All this makes ‘Enter’ into some serious metal ear candy for the trained ear.
Too bad this EP only lasts about 18 minutes. Luckily Forbidden Forest announces the recording of a full album this fall. That’s one good reason to save up some of that beer money.

Reviewed by Gunther
86/100

www.myspace.com/forbiddenforesttheband