Welcome Back in the Forest

There are very different opinions on how big an influence classical music has had on metal, especially how greatly traditional metal was influenced by it, and whether symphonic metal is only a natural successor to the already classically influenced genres of metal or a mere gimmick. Moving on from mere influences to actually playing classical-esque music in the context of metal, especially something extraordinary like black metal, it can be argued whether it actually works: whether metal was ever that close to classical. Symphonic black metal is naturally an altogether different case, and in all honesty, most bands use it as a mere gimmick and a disguise to mask the fact that their music is actually nothing but extreme metal with rather prominent keyboards and perhaps a sense of epicness in the songwriting style which is more or less derived from at least certain well known composers, if not classical music as a whole – that is if they succeed.

Mystic Forest, and ”Welcome Back In The Forest” in particular, is unlike. Whereas the modern fad of symphonic extreme metal is generally based on rhythmic and often amelodic guitar chugging and massive layers of keyboards creating whatever feel of epicness or melody the band may want, Mystic Forest goes all for melody and atmosphere. The album also has some piano interludes that are very skillfully performed, and decent compositions aswell, though rather out of place on a black metal album. The melodies are largely melancholic in nature, either guitar leads played atop of tremolo-picking rhythm guitar or just simple tremolo-picked melodies. A lot of influence from classical music can be heard in the guitar melodies, especially in songs like ”Ô Belle Maudite”, but there is variety: ”Sous La Majesté Céleste” explores more heavy metal-esque styles, and ”La Dame Verte” takes the path of simple and rather generic black metal. Still, almost every song on the album has classical-esque piano parts or guitar leads thrown in, and saying that they don't always fit would be the understatement of the year.

”Ô Belle Maudite” is probably the biggest mess of musical ridiculousness ever, and only the word ridiculous describes it well enough. If the listener can shrug it off, it has its parts, but being the sum of weird ideas it is, it succeeds at being little else than a complete mess.This is mostly because of the most prominent classical element on this album: the would-be virtuoso guitar shred, which more often than not simply ruins the songs. ”Requiem On A Walz” is little other than guitar wankery, aside from very out-of-place sounding female vocals, and the following song ”Une Valse Avec La Mort”, is greatly harmed by said element. It could be a fairly good Windir-type black metal song with folkish melodies and very Windirish drums, but no, the guitarist just has to show off with his mastery of scales, again and again. However, it's not entirely that black and white: many of the songs that are atmospherically similar to the solos as a whole still sound extremely bland, and even so, only the solos that are performed in a non-masturbatory manner sound any good. For example, ”Le Sourire De La Nymphe” sounds promising until, well, the shred part kicks in.

One part of the problem is the contrast between the guitar tones of the leads and tremolo-picked riffs. At worst, it sounds like two different musicians fighting a power struggle, trying to implement as many of their own (completely contradictory) ideas in the music while attempting to drown the other's. To worsen the situation, the lead guitarist just has to prove how much better he is than the rival musician, and constantly has to throw in ridiculous shred wankery that, while technically impressing, actually doesn't sound like classical music for the most part, or even anything that could be called pleasing. Nothing good comes out of using drum machines for blasting either, especially if the drum sounds are heavily distorted like here: this part of the production also plays a great role at making ”Welcome Back In The Forest” a mess of various distorted sounds, constantly attempting to drown one another. The harsh vocals sound great, and much like Windir's, they really help at bringing out the atmospheric elements on this album that are at most times actually quite strong and prominent. It can be said that the harsh vocals and the atmosphere are the only things Mystic Forest succeeded at this time. Sadly, the atmosphere is often ruined by anticlimatic shredfest solos with no relevance to the context of the music, and the entire vocal department isn't perfect either: while not bad though quite emotionless a performance, the female clean vocals sound quite bad, and most of all, very out of place.

Perhaps Mystic Forest succeeded at bringing classical music back to metal, if it ever existed, and perhaps it does, after all, top those generic symphonic metal acts that mask their lack of innovation behind massive walls of keyboards. It is true that ”Welcome Back In The Forest” is still beautiful, romantic and sorrowful despite all it shortcomings and faults, especially when the band doesn't try to mix too many elements and styles together, but it definitely can't be called an enjoyable listening experience. The most important point is that classical influences are unnecessary if the sole purpose is to create beautiful music, and especially if they are mixed with styles like black metal, the result can be a complete disaster. Thankfully, there are good riffs here and there, and the atmosphere is actually quite amazing at best – ”Welcome Back In The Forest” is not a disastrous album by any means – it's simply a sum of way too many things. Some things that are best left separately.

Mystic Forest has to be one of my favourite all-time black metal bands, and I don't think a band this good, of this beauty will ever come along, or at least in the near future or even the next 20 years. OK I should'nt be doing some foreshadowing shit, but the point is that this has to be the best black metal band i've ever heard. As a band overall they've accomplished much, they've never made a single disappointing release. Their releases all sound different, some sound more melodic, and some sound rawer. This release is very unique as usual, but this one has immense "forest" feel to it. The intro "Welcome Back in the Forest" definitely sets the tone, and prepares you for something that will blow you away.

Stefen does an excellent job playing the guitar and composing riffs. A good thing you'll notice about Mystic Forest is that their riffs are varied, and not always cliché'd or generic, but most of the time melodic. The riffs are all very sad and sorrowful. The guitars are extremely emotional, and sometimes the melody follows the vocals. Raw or melodic, the riffs in this album always contain a lot of emotions and are wonderfully played.

The vocals are evil AND emotional as fuck. How can that be, you ask? Well, Mystic Forest have 2 vocalists (one female and one male). The male vocalist screams at the top of his lung, like if the most saddest thing just happened to him, and he isn't pissed, he's just very, VERY sad. The female vocals aren't growled or screamed, they're sang, and the follow the guitars' melodies. They're always emotional, but they shine out the most during the breaks or piano interludes.

The drums are played by a drum machine on this release. But don't fear repetitive and cheesy bullshit. They perfectly fit the music, and they always vary, I'm quite sure the drums are different in each song, except for the extremely fast beats which appear once in a while throughout this album.

The most beautiful thing on this album is undoubtably the classical piano interludes, which have to be the most beatiful interludes i've ever had the pleasure of hearing in my whole life (no kidding), or at least so far.. They don't appear as often as on the other Mystic Forest albums, but when they do appear, they grab you emotionally and don't let go. Just listen once to "La Tristesse d'une pluie d'Automne" and you'll never want to stop listening to it. Not only is it beautiful, but it shows that the Stefen is extremely talented. He must've played and learned theory for a really long time before he could play and compose these interludes.

I'm sure you've already read this for other albums, and it may sound cliched to you, but an album of this quality rarely comes by. This isn't as good as their 2004 release "Romances", which is in my opinion the best album of 2004, but it's damn close, and shouldn't be missed by anyone, whether you like black metal or not. Mystic Forest has to be the black metal band I've ever heard that contains the most emotions, and that can grab you emotionally this well.

"Prend garde à cette épée te barrant le chemin toi qui avait osé refuser cette main " - La Dame Verte