“Hail the Forest Dark” is an EP with only three tracks and as the tittle says Forever Autumn explore the myth of the forests and a comeback to a mythic nature place twisted and haunted by dark spirits. Is this groundbreaking? Absolutely not. However, the band was extremely capable of giving the album their personal touch I’d say much more for the witch shrieking vocals and the dirty guitar tones that create a sonic and chaotic mass. By the way, opening track “Listless Pacings of the Haunt” starts with some noises and distortions and dissonances giving it some ethereal and out-of-this-world feeling. The thing gets even more serious when the full of despair and grief vocals come in and change the spirit of the track. The wall of sound the guitars create is something even more scaring as the song goes on. The cadence seems slow but this is only an impression created by the effect the guitars deliver. The sonic mass they create deceive the fan in a very interesting way and make it absolutely impossible to listen to the drums. Even in the breaks the sound of the bass is incredibly distorted giving again an impression of finitude. Interesting, very interesting. Track number “Among the Roots” sounds as if Forever Autumn were some kind of more twisted Cirith Ungol. It’s acid slow cadence slowly being corrodes any hopes or aspirations. Forever Autumn leave the fan totally hopeless. The song creates an inspired acid corrosive mood that makes the fan more hopeless than ever. Now the best track of the three is “The Firmament in Absence” where the mood created by the sonic mass instrumentals deceives the fan. It’s the track that proves undoubtedly that the band shows no hope for the fan and the wordl is about to end in a senseless mass of a chaotic sonic mass. Even though the song is a slow strumming, the distortion put in the guitars create such a chaos that it is impossible for the fan to escape the general feeling of despair.
It seems to me the main idea of Forever Autumn is to subvert some modern Black Metal standards. The musicians are not that skilled as some of other bands. The musical structures are simple, but the use of some much distortions and the major chords create an indistinguible mood disguised a sonic (black) mass. The band maintains some traditions and break others. That’s the most interesting facts of this “Hail the Forest Dark.” I don’t get the idea of the cover. Truth to be told I really don’t.
Track Listing:
- Listless Pacings of the Haunt
- Among the Roots
- The Firmament in Absence
Watch “The Firmament in Absence” official video here:
