The Crown of Winter

Russia is not a land traditionally linked to Metal music, but even in the largest nation in the world it is possible to find some truly remarkable gems. Forest Stream, a group from the Moscow area, are not a well-known band: their first album "Tears Of Mortal Solitude" enjoyed only moderate fame, but still impressed lovers of the genre with the excellent quality of the compositions and for the ability to combine aggression and melody in an always calibrated and skilful way, drawing liberally from the doom tradition and making it his own in an exquisite way. A quality that is difficult to find in a debut album, although cases in which the debut album can be considered the best of a group's career are not that rare. Published in 2003, their first work was followed by long years of silence, which had almost caused the group to lose track, but here in 2009 our band came back to life with this "The Crown Of Winter". Such a long gestation always imposes a certain trepidation when listening: have all these years of work been well spent and have they produced an album worthy of its excellent predecessor?

The answer is undoubtedly yes. "The Crown Of Winter" is a mature, extremely varied album, which skillfully mixes genres such as doom (debted to the first English scene of the 90s), black (listen for example to the furious "Bless You To Die", a true punch in the stomach) and lots and lots of atmosphere and melody. Compared to the debut album, there is greater attention to detail and nuance, an increased use of clean vocals to the detriment of growl and scream, a greater epic nature of each composition, which often recalls the harshness of Russian winters, the magic, the fantastic and otherworldly atmospheres, the fairy tales. The excellent production highlights the evocative guitar harmonies, combined with the omnipresent carpet of keyboards, which give each composition a dreamlike and evocative atmosphere, but at the same time never tacky. When metal is equipped with keyboards, it is not uncommon to be too pompous, but this is not the case with Forest Stream, who despite constantly using orchestral arrangements manage to never fall into bad taste. There is no shortage of impetuous and aggressive moments, the violent outbursts seasoned with a lot of drums, followed by excellent guitar solo parts and captivating interludes where pure melancholy dominates. The robust singer moves easily from growl singing to clean vocals, succeeding excellently in both styles: the vocal naturalness he displays is truly valuable and in some ways his singing style is very reminiscent of the imaginative power of the best film music.

The best song on the album is certainly the title track, one of my absolute favorite pieces, and which is also the longest song on the album with its 12 minutes of duration: never before have Forest Stream managed to create an ode to winter, snow, ice storms and the intrinsic magic of the cold seasons, thanks to the use of piano notes shifted to high tones and the wonderful guitar melodies, which unleash a superhuman power especially when they are placed side by side from the string sections. Spectacular here are the guitar explosions alternating with the most delicate and fairy-tale moments, as well as the vocal performance of the singer Sonm who sings almost exclusively in a clean voice, leaving the growl only in some, very perfect moments. And after this splendid beginning, the album shows no signs of slowing down: all the very long compositions are pervaded by a soul of their own and always have an epic and solemn feeling as their common denominator, even in the hardest and fastest moments. There is never aggression as an end in itself, there is never a redundant passage, there is not a song that clashes despite the great heterogeneity of the album. To name one, I cannot remain indifferent to "Autumn Dancers", an aggressive and simultaneously enveloping composition, with vocal harmonies of absolute beauty. But we cannot ignore even the surprising "The Beautiful Nature", with its unconventional structure, suspended between majestic passages and sad recited parts, which declaim the senselessness of a world of the living dead, indifferent to the wonders of nature and life. It is difficult to include Forest Streams in a default label. A sign that their music manages to break down many pre-established boundaries. "The Crown Of Winter" is ultimately a record of superior caliber, played with passion and skill, rich in colors and winter atmospheres, which always communicates something new with every listen and never tires. I can't help but highly recommend it!

This review was originally written by myself and published in my own blog http://emozionidistorte.blogspot.com/

I only found this relatively obscure Russian doom metal band by spending too much time on metal forums when their first album came out, spending practically all my extra income on discovering the vast glorious world of metal. “Tears of Mortal Solitude” has always been a jewel in my collection; it has always given me something unique that I never found anywhere else. Ever since then I have waited and waited for another album. Six years later, the day finally came after countless delays.

I have to say it was worth the wait. I absolutely love long, winding, atmospheric songs and Forest Stream has mastered all of these elements even more so than the first album. One of the first things I noticed is this album has a huge improvement in the harsh vocals. I don’t know if it’s just the production (which is leaps and bound better), but the vocals seem much more “in your face”. There are also much more clean vocals, which is refreshing as well.

After a short, theatrical, fantasy-style opening instrumental, a chilling piano opens the first song, setting the grim and cold, yet somehow charming magical sensation the entire album is about to follow. Shortly, the heaviness is added that the listener has been anticipating and the song twists down many different melodic paths. This song, which is the title track, is probably my personal favorite of the album. The instrumentals are just breathtaking and it is simply one of the most “epic” metal songs I have heard to date, no matter how overused that word might be.

Simply “doom metal” fails to describe the pure diversity of this album. This album pulls metal influences from all realms. I would say it is black metal just as much as doom – it is quite symphonic yet not to the point of overdoing it. It is also not as slow as doom metal usually is. Some songs or parts of songs are actually quite brutal. In fact, the songs are overall heavier and a bit faster than their first album. Some songs on their first album tended to go on a bit long without much direction and were somewhat repetitive, but that is not the case anymore. These songs have much more direction and complexity to them.

“Autumn Dancers” is possibly my second favorite track. It employs the perfect blend of everything Forest Stream has to offer including some of the most killer melodic riffs while still keeping the song flowing with the rest of the album and utilizing calmer instrumentals. An instant favorite.

The intro of “The Beautiful Nature” is very interesting, almost a little annoying, but turns out to be a very memorable final track for the album, emitting an intense melancholy and forlorn feeling before fading into the outro track, similar to how it all begun.

So without a doubt, The Crown of Winter is one of my top metal albums of 2009. I think Forest Stream is an extremely talented band and sadly, they remain so obscure. Every metal fan ought to give them a try.

As many in the extreme metal world would know, there was in Norway, at one time, a little group called IN THE WOODS…, who was pagan to the bone both musically and lyrically. They were totally ahead of their time for what it was worth, taking the epic, PINK FLOYDian prog and coupling it with the violence of mid-90s black metal to create an entity all its own. Their “Isle of Man” and “HEart of the Ages” albums evoked a sensation of pure wonder, where nature was something to admire and fear, worth the occasional listen to keep such wonders fresher and fresher.

And yes, there is a reason I’m regaling you with this history lesson…

This here FOREST STREAM band reminds me a hell of a lot of IN THE WOODS…, the whole synth-driven, proto-black metal, forest-dwelling approach, yet also possessing the otherworldly effect of vintage LIMBONIC ART. This time around, a more modern take on the whole shebang is in effect, especially in the keyboard usage, which is quite thought-provoking and necessary given this scheme of things. Strings, electric piano, and other various electronic niceties serve as the nerve center for the overall product, pushing along grinding guitars, pounding percussion, and double-billed, emotional vocal work, both epic clean singing and diabolical growls that fit this given style rather well. Simply put, this is some seriously epic stuff, hard to nail down in terms of stylistic pigeon-holing, where song durations are taken into dimensions all its own. The performance and overall songwriting definitely show a lot of potential, smoothly changing trajectories and emotions not unlike the nature they seem intent on emulating musically. This is shown brightly with the likes of “The Crown of Winter”, “Mired”, and “The Seventh Symphony of Satan”, upping the enjoyment value all the more with each successive minute.

So all in all, this album really surprised me. It’s quite the rarity to find a metal group that pours in a lot of songwriting and makes it work without sounding cluttered or trying too hard to get noticed. Well done, guys.

Picture yourself, if you can, wandering through an arctic blizzard. The Wind blowing past your face, your breath freezing in your mouth before it touches the frozen air, your skin blue and chilled to the touch. Yet, in all the bitter coldness that surrounds you, all is silent, peaceful and beautiful all at once inside this bitter maelstrom. If you can conjure this you might be close enough to understand how this sounds.

The style established on the debut is very much intact but with a few new twists. In saying this, the guitars are still very melodic and full of epic black metal fury. The leads flow nicely with the rhythms, but sadly there are no solos. Combined with the keyboards they make for a wondrous atmosphere.

The bass isn't too bad as it mostly follows the guitars. Its not a problem however as anything flashier would've taken away from the music. The keyboards are the beauty and atmosphere that bind this sprawling piece of music together. They are hauntingly beautiful and yet ponderous at the same time. The drums are perhaps the best part of the album. They are tight, technical and flawless. They almost sound programmed in a few places but aren't.

The vocals are a mix of clean spoken, semi-sung passages entangled with more traditional death/black styles. The lyrics aren't too far removed from the bands debut either.

The majestic darkness that this invokes is profound. The music is strangely relaxing, almost breathtaking; but still manages to get under your skin. The vibe can only be described as epic, no other word can sum up the grandeur that Forest Stream has created.

All in all, this is a very lush piece of frozen bliss from the eastern hot bed of untapped metal, Russia. This album is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor in terms of production and musicality, but it falls short of a 100% score because of one thing. The flaw in question is that the band flagrantly rips off "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" Emperor in a few places. With this one exception, this album is perfect.