Review Summary: A Forest of Stars progress towards Agalloch-flavored blackened doom.
With an overindulgent name like A Forest of Stars, there are really only two options for your music: post-rock or black metal. With their debut
The Corpse of Rebirth, British black metal outfit A Forest of Stars utilized elements of both, crafting atmospheric black metal that ranged from churning to chaotic. On the all-important sophomore outing,
Opportunistic Thieves of Spring”, AFOS have given up their deliberate approach for a speedier attack plan absolutely dripping with musical tension.
Case in point, the first three “Chapters” of
Opportunistic Thieves are crushing bass-heavy cuts that say AFOS decided to mess around with
Agalloch-style blackened doom. Unlike Agalloch, however, AFOS whip out the blastbeats and fast riffs, swelling and swelling and leaving the soft atmosphere by and large in the dust. Right about here I am disappointed. To be perfectly honest, at this point the only thing separating AFOS from every other black metal band on the planet is Mister Curse, the vocalist. His cracked wails and huffing growls are mildly distinctive and very effective, despite the ridiculous moniker.
Luckily, Chapter 4, aka “Thunder’s Cannonade”, saves the day. The majority of 8-minute track is gentle but eerie strings (Think “The Dead Flag Blues”) and the heavy elements are slower and doomier (more doomy?). Following stead, Chapter 5: “Starfire’s Memory” is the slowest starter on the album. It begins with fuzzy guitar tones, fading into plodding doom chords, whispers, and chanting female vocals. This is followed by several minutes of dark ambience and bubbling noises like the air in a medieval dungeon. The black metal finally enters about 8 minutes in, starting soft before going full-on
WItTR on your ass.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, comes the final chapter. Literally. Chapter 6: “Delay’s Progression” is more like delayed progression. The song feels like what “Thunder’s Cannonade” should have been. The ambience for the first 6 minutes is much softer and more post-rock, lighter. There’s water noises, misty female whispering, and even an acoustic guitar plucking around. This actually sounds like the spring mentioned in the album title. This time the riffage jumps in abruptly, slamming down under clean male singing. Here, the tempo changes every minute or so, hopping back and forth between a groove riff and steady symphonic black metal. Yes, symphonic black metal. There’s even keyboards. Despite sounding like a mash-up of every atmospheric black metal cliché, “Delay’s Progression” is easily the best track on the album. It meshes all its elements together in a surprisingly smooth way, and manages to retain and progress upon A Forest of Stars former identity.
Opportunistic Thieves of Spring has disheartening beginnings. The first few songs are crushing, entertaining, and solid. However they also sound like some other band wrote them. At Chapter 4, AFOS wake up and start bringing it. “It” being intelligent ambience and, dare I say it? Progression. Don’t lose hope in its shaky start,
Thieves is well worth your (spring)time.
