Me, Music and Musings #1

Daily Disclaimer:

Please note that in this installment of BDSM there's going to be extreme metal. But also some damn good jokes*. So, if you already decided to skip this one, reconsider. Please.

***

No worries, no grumpy bullshit this time round. In Me, Music and Musings we're going to tackle all things un-pop and today, for the first time, I'm about to show you some of the most insane music ever created. And you're about to like it, I'm damn sure. Today's weapon of choice is A Forest of Stars. Let's smash some ears with the only psychedelic, steam-powered black metal band in the whole Victorian Empire.

This amazing video clip was created by Ingram Blakelock, a visual artist from the UK. As you could probably see, it's a rather dramatic depiction of friendzoning gone wrong [laugh track]. In order to make the whole story clearer and provide you with a background of sorts, let's have a look at lyrics of the intro track from A Shadowplay for Yesterdays.

Once upon a time there was a lady of no repute,
One Miss Crow, who, by force of a certain stranger,
had engaged in violent night-time actions, against her very will.

Resulting from this invasion came,
an aberration of desperation, a horror in all but name,
A stoop-backed boy, short of stature, violent by nature;
to be expelled from the womb in late November.
A fast track to sorrow in a world bred slow.
From foetid seed, a poison tree with a venomous bark did grow.

He was to work all the hours his sorry god sent,
a resident of fantasy, living a life of lament.
He was to have no living lovers, no-one on who to depend.
Yet his friends were to call him Carrion,
the friends inside his head...

The protagonist of the above mentioned album is the stoop-backed boy whose mother was a prostitute raped by a stranger. He lives is a world of fantasy where he pictures himself being the puppetmaster of all men in the industrial Yonder Town. He obviously can be quite effective in the real world too, as you could certainly see. What's even more important, though, is that the lyrics on this record seem to be way more direct and less obscure compared to the previous albums by the band. Let's give a listen to a track from Opportunistic Thieves of Spring.

Sound's heavier, punchier, rawer and the whole thing leans more towards black metal and doom metal rather than folk. Even though both albums are excellent, one can instantly notice that the band has slightly softened and diversified their sound. I gave a more positive review to the latest album by the band, but I remember reading Les Justes by Albert Camus while listening to Opportunistic Thieves of Spring and let me tell you, they created an amazing couple. The atmosphere of the album is simply amazing and it just goes so damn well with the grim and dramatic story set in tsarist Russia.

A Forest of Stars is just one of numerous obscure bands that just wait to be discovered by demanding listeners around the world. If extreme music doesn't scare you and psychedelia is your cup of absinthe, give this band a shot.

Also, consider checking out my reviews of the albums: SfY review, OToS review

* - That counts as one...