Skyforest - Unity

Summoning and Alcest had a baby in the Woods

90%

The ambient black metal genre has so much potential that sometimes we get surprised by the most fascinating works.

This one is one of those cases. I see that some people tend to dislike the overusage of synths and MIDI, but this is where the musical composition shines the most.

This is a bright colored album, not just by it's cover, but the music is also more uplifting, and it gives constantly the feeling of uprising, either emotional, or nature-wise.

The tracks are similar sound-wise, but they are quite distinct in their structure. The songs "A Graceful Spirit" and "Autumnal Embrace" rely mostly on string guitars and ambient synths with some folk hints like violins and flutes. Aside from the harsh vocals (that resemble a lot Coldworld), there is also some clean vocals. The cleans aren't that bad. Okay they are bland, but he manages to make them fit in the song structure. I actually praise artists that know their limitations, and yet make use of them in order to improve in some other aspects of the song. The cleans are more akin to the folkish side of the album, and when he wants to completely drop on the overall harshness of the black metal genre.

I love the vocals in this album, actually. I like specially the "whispered choirs" he has going on the album, specially noticed in the intro of "Autumnal Embrace". It provides a cool effect, like a choir of forest spirits that sing in the wind.

There are also some cool instrumental moments here, like " Fading Glow", that is a simple song, but works well as a bridge to the next song, "The Swan", that is basically the prep song to "Reminiscence", the best song of the album for me.

I don't mind the usage of MIDI and Synthesizers, if they are used properly to improve upon a song, and not to blandly fill voids in the songs like many metal bands tend to do, and get praised upon. In this album, the layers of sound are many, from the ambiental and heavy reverb choirs to the more folk percussion, all those elements have a role in the songs, and they don't outshine one another.

What can I say more?! The guitars work as a complement, rather than the main melodic focus, like most metal bands, they don't outshine anything here. If you expect some virtuous melodic guitars here like the likes of Emperor, then you will be dissapointed. Also, this isn't a fast paced album, this is a mid tempo, with some slower moments. No fast, furious tracks are found here.

But if you are to some ambiental music that invokes nature, human feelings and emotions, and that don't fall into the black metal stereotypes, then you will enjoy this.

*** ADDITIONAL NOTE ***

I have been absent (again) and I will be honest here. At the moment, my engineering course is being quite demanding. Also, I have a job, and I have some internships that I do time to time. So my reviews and content share will be somewhat limited and will have long periods between them. Of course I will not let this blog die out, I just ask of you a little patience.

You may have noticed, but I also share my reviews in Metal Archives (when I get a happy moderator to review them), so if you have an account there, you can approach me there and request some reviews. I will make them with time, I assure you.

Regarding Daemon Forest, I am in the studio with Azazel composing new material to either a new EP or LP, we are still deciding. Since the earnings on our GoFundMe are quite inexistant, we are quite limited in regards to our material and recording capabilities. Perhaps I will make the recordings in the studios at my University, whenever they are vacant (and that's a rare piece of business by itself). 

So this is what I have been doing lately. I still have in consideration the peeps that like to read what I write here, and get to know some cool bands and music projects that perhaps you would never come across in your life.

Semper Fi