Skogen-I Döden

Nordvis
2014

Just one of several bands black metal bands to go by the moniker (because hey, that's not at all confusing or anything right?), the trio Skogen (which, in their native Swedish language means "the forest") will be dropping this (album number four since their formation in 2009) at the start of next month. On "I Döden" (In Death) the band does their utmost best though to prove that they alone deserve the title and that they alone should be heirs to the legacy that such a worthy moniker deserves! And I'll tell you what. If they don't manage to convince anyone else they've at least convinced me! This should be required listening for those who still insist upon viewing back metal as a blanket assumption (and I should know as I used to be in that exact crowd before having my frame of mind blown wide open thanks to adventurous black metal outfits like this trio!). We're talking about adventures in sound and texture, from dark and brooding passages to melodic, often-subtle interludes, as channeled from band that crawled forth from primordial slime and, upon staring upwards toward the night sky, realized their long road towards evolutionary perfection had to start with basic black metal but that it would end with a magically enchanted LP like "I Döden"! Whisper it with me, "This is perfection".