OLD FOREST – Graveside

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  OLD FOREST
• Duration: 00:43:14
• Available from: 06/12/2024
• Label:

• Soulseller Records

Streaming not yet available

After the long break between the debut “Into the Old Forest”, released at the end of the last century, and its successor – released twelve years later – the English band has found a certain discographic regularity, to the point that this new “Graveside ” arrives on the shelves less than a year after the previous test, represented by the good “Sutwyke”.
The new songs do not introduce anything new, moving along the coordinates that had animated the previous work, yet they seem better overall: melodic black metal, influenced by pagan/Viking of Scandinavian origin (even if less than in the past, as already underlined in precedence), with an approach to writing free from modern dictates and contaminations.
Kobold and Beleth, founding souls of this project, prove persistent in carrying forward their idea of ​​black metal, linked to English folklore and sinister legends: no drum triggers and exasperated Satanism, the duo prefers to move across the moors at dusk, painting dark but romantic glimpses, in the wake of one of the most solid horror traditions, such as the British one.
The Sussex band's point of view is openly anti-commercial and does not seek the perfection of form and the affected and pompous sounds of the extreme mainstream, rather harking back to the genuineness of the dawn of the second Scandinavian wave of the early '90s.
The album therefore turns out to be pleasant and, in its own way, personal: the opener “Curse Of Wampyr” well represents the nocturnal feeling that permeates the entire album, in particular thanks to a wise use of keyboards, never too invasive or cloying, but although chosen as a single, it is not the best piece of this work.
Even more interesting, in fact, are two pieces that incorporate horror metal hints close to Death SS, Denial Of God, Abysmal Grief and Mortuary Drape, such as the long “Witch Spawn” and the following “Solstice Sacrifice”, more rhythmic and atmospheric, in which they coexist pagan elements (mostly in Kobold's clean singing insertions).
The rest of the album proceeds in a similar way, without big surprises but maintaining a constant level of quality, which is very respectable: only “Soil Of The Martyrs” shows more extensively the pagan influences bordering on the avant-garde that characterized the period in which Anders Kobro (Kobold's former partner in …In The Woods) played in the band, with acoustic guitar insertions and a brief psychedelic drift. Perhaps slightly alienating, but all in all convincing, even if a song like “Forgotten Graves” – which closes the album – appears more focused on the concept and general structure.
In any case, this is a very good piece of a long but – at least in the past – not excellent discography: despite historically condemned to the role of eternal 'second blades', the English pull out from their hat (or rather, from their shroud) an inspired performance, compact and perfect to accompany the cold and melancholy days of this period, also revealing glimpses of the best Cradle Of Filth here and there.
And even if they were songs (surprisingly) discarded previously – the recordings in fact date back to the period 2022-2023 – things do not change: “Graveside” is a very enjoyable disc, which we recommend if you prefer sinister atmospheres in black metal rather than in blind fury.