video review: 'grave mounds and grave mistakes' by a forest of stars

So this was a mess... honestly, I was tempted just to put this on the Trailing Edge, but I wound up easily having enough for a full review, go figure.

But of course, what everyone's really talking about is...

album review: 'grave mounds and grave mistakes' by a forest of stars

You know, there was a time when I was starting to get into black metal that I was unsure if I'd be recommended acts I didn't like within the genre. That's the funny thing about extreme music and one reason why critics who don't exclusively specialize in it tend to hand out high scores more often, mostly because it's more organic. The good stuff rises to the top and picks up popularity, the bad or incompetent stuff just... doesn't, and winds up in the pits of obscurity.

Of course, the big exception to this rule is when a band slips into 'avant-garde' territory and is simply so unique that they seem custom-made for a cult following even if the quality isn't there - and on that note, A Forest Of Stars. I'll be very blunt and say that when I checked out their first few albums, I wasn't a fan whatsoever - and given my fondness for fantasy or at the very least Celtic folk tones you'd think they'd be up my alley, but with every listen I found the slapdash blend of black metal, quasi-futuristic psychedelic rock, and pompous neo-classical folk to be a total mess. Yeah, the poetry was okay, but the progressions were underwhelming, the production rarely rose above mediocre and nothing close to consistent, and the less I say about the attempted blend of male and female vocals, the better. I'll admit they got better with each passing album, but up until this release I'd only call them okay for some good violin work and some passable black metal segments, and I've never been a fan of the vocals across any of their projects. They reminded me a lot of Diablo Swing Orchestra, who at their best were able to balance the ridiculous camp with some genuine menace and chops but at their worst could come across as oversold and gimmicky, which is just as true about A Forest of Stars down to their fake origin story! And when I heard that this album was going to be revisiting sounds from their 2012 release A Shadowplay for Yesterdays - which is arguably where their theatricality picked up the most flop-sweat - I was steeling myself for a rough listen. How did it turn out?