Description

Still sealed A5 box set featuring the 3 cds with the complete Forgotten Woods discography including all three albums, the two demos and four bonus tracks from the Forgotten Woods side-project Joyless.

Forgotten was originally formed as Mordor in Norway in 1991 by Olav Berland (guitar, drums), Thomas Torkelsen (vocals) and Rune Vedaa (bass), but a few months later the name was changed to Forgotten Woods. In 1993 they released two demos, Through The Woods and Forgotten Woods. These two demos featured obscure, haunting and truly unsettling material and already here it set Forgotten Woods apart from their Norwegian contemparies in the early 90s. As The Wolves Gather, their debut album, was released in 1994 and it contained very depressive black metal, quite comparable to old Burzum. Because of the highly original and great basslines this album sounds quite catchy, even though this was not intended presumably. The vocals are also similar to Vargs style of singing with some icy shrieks and echos which enhances a great atmosphere to the album. Musicwise there is a lot of variation in pace which makes this album interesting and you can listen to it over and over again without getting bored. Their second album Sjel Av Natten contains three lengthy tracks in the same musical style as the debut album. Yet these songs sound a bit more epic, with here and there great melodic leadguitar parts. What remained the same are the great ice shrieks by Thomas. Even more than before the songs are almost hypnotizing and you can’t get enough from this ep. Some consider this to be the best Forgotten Woods work ever. The third album The Curse Of Mankind was released in 1996 and shows a band that is more mature. Six long songs for over an hour of total misanthropy. Prevailing rhythms are slow, riffs easy and repetitive, gapped and often coupled with gloomy and beautiful acoustic moments. Screams are despaired and anguishing, supported by choirs that underline the sound of the guitars: they participate to increase the melancholy element of the compositions, without being epic or in no way happy. The result is raw, minimalistic and repetitive, however fascinating because melodies created by Forgotten Woods are easy to assimilate but they never bore the listener. It’s a particular mixture between old school black metal with doom and dark influences: also if it has been copied by dozens of bands through the years, maintains vitality and originality still today. If you are looking for headbanging-music, search something else, here you’ll find nothing but desolation and despair. If you like true black, black/doom and suicidal bands like Abyssic Hate, Forgotten Tomb or Shining, don’t hesitate to buy this box. It featurse some of the best releases that came out of the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the 90s.

Track list:
1. Eclipsed-As The Wolves Gather 1994
2. As The Wolves Gather-As The Wolves Gather 1994
3. In My Darkest Visions-As The Wolves Gather 1994
4. Winter-As The Wolves Gather 1994
5. Grip Of Frost-As The Wolves Gather 1994
6. Dimension Of The Blackest Dark-As The Wolves Gather 1994
7. Svartedauden-As The Wolves Gather 1994
8. Through Dark And Forgotten Valleys-As The Wolves Gather 1994
9. Winterly Battle Over Northland-Forgotten Woods demo 1 1993
10. Grip Of Frost-Forgotten Woods demo 1 1993
11. Forgotten Woods-Forgotten Woods demo 1 1993
12. Winter Landscape-Forgotten Woods demo 1 1993
13. Overmotets Pris-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
14. My Scars Hold Your Dreams-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
15. The Starlit Waters/I, The Mountain-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
16. With Swans I’ll Share My Thirst-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
17. Den Ansiktslose-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
18. The Velvet Room-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
19. Jomfrulysets Fall-Joyless cover-The Curse Of Mankind 1996
20. Sjel Av Natten-Sjel Av Natten 1995
21. En Natt Med Storm Og Ravners Skrik-Sjel Av Natten 1995
22. Hvor Vinteren Rar-Sjel Av Natten 1995
23. Joyless -Inherent Emptiness-Unlimited Hate 1997
24. Joyless -Your Crystal Fragments-Unlimited Hate 1997
25. Joyless -Blå Melankoli-Unlimited Hate 1997
26. Joyless -(Don’t Need) Religion-Unlimited Hate 1997
27. Through The Woods-Through The Woods demo 1993
28. Inside The Witches Cave-Through The Woods demo 1993
29. Storm From The North-Through The Woods demo 1993