Sorrow

This is surely an excellent way to end Hate Forest's reign over Eastern Europe as one of the premiere black metal bands of the region, and perhaps beyond as well. There are a few quirks with this album that caught me off guard at first, but overall, after several listens (well, more like fifty or so-- the album is that good), one will come to the realization that this is a legendary album, and worthy of praise.

The quirks that are on this album include, as other reviewers have mentioned, that the songs all end extremely abruptly-- this caught me off guard at first, as I thought maybe something was wrong with the version of the album I had, but after I listened to the entire thing, I realized it was just a part of it. After several listens, this didn't bother me one bit, and I actually found myself sort of liking how the songs ended out of the middle of nowhere-- I suppose this will be a purely relative interpretation however and others may dislike this aspect of the recording.

If you like Hate Forest, you WILL like this album-- I really can't think of any reasons why a Hate Forest fan wouldn't like this. Almost every track on this album would be a standout by itself on any other album-- but for me, the standouts of the standouts were tracks 1,2,4, and 6. Tracks 3 and 5 are still great though, so I have no problem listening to this album all the way through over and over again. I really have nothing bad to say about this album-- it's surely classic Hate Forest and should absolutely be remembered as such.

With their final album, Hate Forest reached a culmination of their musical ideology, allowing their characteristic theme -the arbitration of technological 'progress' vs. nostalgic atavism in terms of a sublime and mythic war of the heart- to come to light clearly in the operations of their medium. 'Sorrow' vaults over the stumbling block of most black metal protocol by eschewing metaphor as the sole vehicle for meaning, utilizing additionally functions of form, song structure, recording and editing to deliver a frigid, bleak soundtrack to the conflict. More impressive is 'Sorrow's refusal to adhere to the dialectical model, instead allowing the two conflicting ideologies to remain intact, un-synthesized, unresolved and eternally furious.

The vocal here is an abyssal bark from the pit, the dark recesses of oblivion. It's like a rottweiler tearing a carcass, slowed wayyy down. It's most poignant in it's absolute coldness - no emotion, little humanity.. just hollowness and audible deathatred. The guitar, bass and drum are linked by metronomic bindings, they work in unison as if one instrument. It's a churning and relentless tremolo, with sustained passages of distant and cold progressions, alternating with upending washes of warmth - breaks in the clouds. The sound is of low-tech machinery, like an old diesel truck engine, the diabolical sound the factory, of encroaching industry- the reactionary grief of Hate Forest. In this reaction, the central theme of 'Sorrow' is established.

Songs are almost minimalist exercises in their dismissal of beginnings and endings altogether. There is no fanfare.. no buildup, no epilogue, just a series of operations brought to form by objective logic. Songs begin as they end, clipped in post-production, opting out of the organic process of the function of the instruments to begin and cease playing. There is a mathematical logic to the song progression- a series of variables is established, set into motion and played out to completion- an icily inorganic and removed methodology, 'Sorrow' behaves as a machine in this way, or more specifically, a program.

Here Hate Forest transcends black metal by embodying ideas rather than illustrating them. In their personification of extreme removal and inhumanity, the concepts of nature, nostalgia & nationalism are counterpoised against a reified form; a central antagonism perfectly analogous to real life, where these concepts remain mental constructs, augmented by a longing and wishfully atavistic ethos and fortified against the crushing realities of progress. The historical struggle of Modernism is here played out in blunt, raw and brutal terms.

The last album by Hate Forest features seven tracks of straight to the point black metal with simple song arrangements and trademark Hate Forest melting guitar chords. While Battlefields was slower and doomier with keyboards, Sorrow strips it all back with no synth and solid drum sequencing which during the constant blast beats give the effect of a skipping CD.

The backbone of the riffs are at times basic but there is often a slight twist on the structure or accent points within the riff to make it sound less generic. Hate Forest's vocals have always struck me as being relatively unique after hearing Scythia and are as to be expected on this recording (except a lot better in the mix). A favourite aspect of mine about this album is his ability to hold back from oversaturating the music with vocals, so that the riffs and drums can create a monotonous ambience (Burzum, Darkthrone).

All the tracks on this release end abruptly, as if the power were cut off during the recording. This among other many obvious elements of the recording indicate a probable home computer job. Regardless of which, it is clear that Hate Forest have spent time in writing and structuring their songs and the result is a release that emits the bleakest and coldest atmosphere a black metal album has given me in recent times. The end of the project after this album is very unfortunate.

Well, it seems that "Sorrow" is the last recording made by this amazing band. There is not much i have to say about this release. Those who appreciate Hate Forest's previous creations will surely appreciate this one as well. I do. In fact i easily rate every release of theirs (maybe "Resistance" and "Temple Forest" are somewhat weaker than the rest) as an outstanding piece of work.

"Sorrow". We again have this familiar minimalistic approach to music, which is performed very much in the vein of "The Most Ancient Ones" and "Purity". The booklet of this CD says it all in fact - no fancy pictures of the bandmembers nor endless thanks to friends and drinking partners. What we see and hear are the faces and voices of what still dwells somewhere away from civilization. This album is cold, fast and extremely beautiful, in its own way.

Don't look for anything progressive here - this is Raw Slavonic Black Metal at its best, nothing more nothing less. If You believe that the last worthy Black Metal record was made a decade ago somewhere in Scandinavia then don't bother listening to "Sorrow", this album won't be of any interest to You.

I however trust that those who have ever enjoyed anything released by Hate Forest will truly appreciate every element of this album, from cover to the music itself.