FOREST GRAVE / THUNORSLEAP: Split tape

In addition to Through Thickets and Trodden Paths, Path of the Wolf released another tape at the same time, a split between Forest Grave and Thunorsleap. The latter is totally unknown to me and, as far as I’m aware, this is their first appearance ever.

Forest Grave, on the other hand, does its job here as safely as always. “Through These Old Forests” begins the journey in characteristic low-fidelity soundscapes: drums pummelling somewhere there with mostly snare, bass drum and accented crash hits audible, guitars firing their positively monotonous tremolos, and Nox delivering deadly screeches. An acoustic guitar line on top of the black metal is a nice addition, bringing something relatively fresh into the game. “Echoes of Eternity” follows very similar patterns, with a somewhat more heroic approach in the melodies.

When Thunorsleap kicks in with “Storm Winds”, you know immediately that this new band will not disappoint. It’s possible to make several comparisons to Forest Grave – as in the harsh production, the vocals, and the slightly ritualistic, repetitive approach to composing – but Thunorsleap seems somewhat more focused, structured, and more carefully played (not to underrate Forest Grave’s unique style). The band combines sombre and hateful moods very eloquently, not entirely unlike such Finnish names as Sargeist and Cosmic Church. The two songs here are pretty much perfect pieces of underground black metal, both tracks hammering like old doers in the field, knowing their game already (which makes me wonder if this is truly the band’s first effort).

Two somewhat similar acts presenting great tracks on a same tape, an apt format for both bands, so I really can’t complain. A mandatory purchase for Forest Grave followers, and a good way to introduce a really promising band on the same go.

4 / 5

FOREST GRAVE: “Through Thickets and Trodden Paths”

The ever-consistent Nox behind Forest Grave (among other low-profile acts of the underground) hasn’t rested much since the first FG tape in 2008. While the discography is huge, the listener base is less so; but I do need to raise a hat for the endurance of keeping releasing short runs of his material for the specific audience. Through Thickets and Trodden Paths is chronologically the tape number god-knows-what, and I bet I’ve seen all the five words of the title appearing on previous tapes, and the riffs aren’t anything new either really, but in some perverse way it’s always such a joy to uncork a new Forest Grave tape. You kind of know what you’re going to get, but it’s never going to disappoint or even bore me either, it seems, as years roll by… 

Through Thickets and Trodden Paths presents the harsh metal side of the project (for those who aren’t familiar, there are some occasional acoustic releases). Two long and crude songs that wander mostly in mid-tempo, drums beating simple patterns and guitars firing constant tremolo (with some slower breakdown sections), the characteristic Forest Grave combo. Whereas the songs don’t compositionally present anything revolutionary and the playing isnt’t the world’s tightest, the feeling and the atmosphere – the most important elements – are always there, haunting, evoking pictures of raw nature, as raw as the rehearsal-like music here recorded on four analog tracks. Comparing this to some previous releases, I don’t find this quite as captivating as some of my old favourities, like Change & Renewal or Where the Land Is Silent, but if you are one of us few who don’t mind Forest Grave’s unoriginality from a release to another, there is absolutely no reason why you would not acquire this tape.

3.5 / 5