Forgotten Woods

Norwegian black metal of the second wave is rightfully the most famous the world has known. Yet even that fruitful scene produced hidden gems. Some bands--like the already mentioned Fleurety--just didn't fit into the neat little categorization of the black metal mainstream. Others--like Vestland's FORGOTTEN WOODS--kept to themselves to such a degree that it might be hard to argue that they were part of any such 'scene.'

Formed in 1991, Forgotten Woods had very little contact with other black metal bands in Norwegian (the exception being that they were friends with the guys in Enslaved). Isolation, as they have admitted, was part of their creative process, and an inspiration in their music. In addition, even their inspiration was unique: they claim to draw upon not just classic extreme metal bands like Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, and Bathory, but moody rock artists like The Doors, Velvet Underground, and Lou Reed.

In its entirety, here is their self-titled 1993 demo

1993 was the year that both of their demos saw the light of day, and, interestingly enough, it's probably the most traditionally Norwegian-sounding material that Forgotten Woods ever created. The riffing was slightly reminiscent of what could be heard in other bands (early Burzum or Emperor, for example), but at the same time, there was an almost rock'n'roll sensibility to their song structure. I've read one reviewer describing their work as "proto black'n'roll", and I think that's a fair assessment.

Their first full-length, 1994's As the Wolves Gather, continued in this rock-oriented vein. The riffing begins to move away from the hyper fast tremolo style associated with traditional black metal and almost takes on a punk feel at times. As an example, listen to the opening riff of the title track, below:

In addition to song structures that didn't fall into the stereotypical Norwegian style, the lyrical content was another way Forgotten Woods stood out. Instead of an anti-Christian, heavily Satanic lyrical orientation, Forgotten Woods's material was more about melancholy and misanthropy. An existential angst permeated their sound, and it continued onto their second full-length, 1996's The Curse of Mankind.

"My Scars Hold Your Dreams" is one of the highlights from their second album

A mid-paced black metal masterpiece, Curse bears some resemblance to modern DSBM but, again, with an almost black'n'roll feel to it. Forgotten Woods's long, epic-length compositions seek to drown the listener in misanthropy, angst and moodiness....a far cry from the Satanic wrath of typical Norse black metal.

While the band has never truly and officially broken up, they do have some rather long hiatuses in their history. After Curse, some of the members of the band chose to focus on a side project of theirs, the band Joyless. In some ways a continuation of Forgotten Woods's Curse of Mankind, Joyless's first album (Unlimited Hate) contains some material that was originally written for Forgotten Woods.

Joyless eventually morphed into depressive rock, but the black metal itch still needed to be scratched. So in 2007, a third Forgotten Woods album was released: Race of Cain. Their trademark misanthropy evident even in the title, this album almost takes the full plunge into millenial black'n'roll (some of the riffing reminds me of Volcano-era Satyricon). It proved divisive among fans.

From Race of Cain, this is "Intolerance is the New Law" 

At this point, who knows what the future holds for Forgotten Woods? Will they release a fourth album? They've re-released old material for a new generation of fans, but will we ever hear new work from them? Time will tell.

Select Discography:

Forgotten Woods (demo) (1993)

Through the Woods (demo) (1993)

As the Wolves Gather (full-length album) (1994)

Promo '95 (demo) (1995)
Sjel av natten EP (1995)
The Curse of Mankind (full-length album) (1996)

Race of Cain (full-length album) (2007)

Next time: SUMMON