In the Woods...

 

Norwegian band IN THE WOODS... represents a unique chapter in the history of black metal. Their style in the late nineties was like almost no one else in the Norwegian scene, and they have unique connections to other crucial black metal bands at the same time. 

ITW formed from the ashes of death metal band Green Carnation in 1991 when band member Tchort went to join Emperor on bass. Green Carnation dissolved and remaining members Anders, Christian, and Christopher formed ITW--recruiting Oddvar and Jan along the way--as an outlet for their nascent black metal sound. Their first demo in 1993 was a raw piece of black metal that didn't do too much to stand out from the pack.

Here is the '93 demo in full

Shortly after the release of that demo, ITW entered the studio with the goal of releasing a second demo. This demo--1994's Isle of Men--was essentially the first demo re-recorded. The sound quality was improved, but this was still the same music: a somewhat raw, midpaced black metal.

This is the 1994 version of "Tell de døde", from the Isle of Men demo

The Isle of Men demo in 1994 proved to be a pretty well-received demo in the black metal underground. It has been reissued by several different record labels as a CD, most recently by Soulseller Records. It is pretty easy to find these days, if you're interested in acquiring a copy.

That said, ITW began pushing the boundaries of their music after the release of Isle of Men. The midpaced black metal sound on their demos eventually gave way to a melodic and progressive folk-influenced style on their first full-length album, 1995's Heart of the Ages. With a sound that reminds the listener of Isengard and older Arcturus, all wrapped up in an atmospheric package, there really was nothing like it in the Norwegian scene at the time of its release.

"...in the woods" is probably the most traditionally black metal song off of Heart of the Ages

Now calling their music 'pagan metal'--despite not having all of the hallmarks of that genre--ITW had really made their mark on the Norwegian scene, and by extension, global black metal. If they had called it a day after releasing this album, they'd still be a noteworthy chapter in the history of black metal. But in this first phase of their existence (they broke up in 2000), they put out two more albums that revolutionized extreme metal.

On 1997's Omnio, they moved away from black metal, but kept a dark, moody aura to their music. With epic, progressive passages painted over a doom-y riffing style, Omnio is a hard album to characterize. Not really like any kind of traditional black metal, fans of modern-day atmospheric and epic black metal like Saor, Aquilus, or Agalloch might find themselves at home on this album.

From 1997's Omnio, this is "Weeping Willow"

On 1999's Strange in Stereo, they moved even further away from traditional black metal. Still possessing the dark, moody atmosphere from Omnio, their music reminds the listener of old-school gothic rock bands like Bauhaus at times. Strange in Stereo is an odd album--one whose name is very apt. This is an album that further alienated hardcore black metal fans, but brought in a whole new audience of open-minded listeners.

"Closing In" is the opening track from Strange in Stereo

But all was not well in the world of ITW. The band members could not agree on the direction to take the band, and these musical differences would prove fatal to the band. In the Woods... broke up in the year 2000 (In the Woods...did get back together in the 2010s, but their music was more in the doom-death vein than it was black metal). But as fortune would have it, some of the band members had recently reconciled with Tchort, and Green Carnation was re-formed as a result. If you listen to the Green Carnation albums from the early 2000s, you can hear some similarities with what ITW was doing on Omnio and Strange. Check out "Light of Day, Day of Darkness," below, to see what I mean.

Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1993)

Isle of Men (demo) (1994)

Heart of the Ages (full-length album) (1995)

Omnio (full-length album) (1997)

Strange in Stereo (full-length album) (1999)

Next time: IMMORTAL