A lot of my favorite black metal is the stuff that feels old. The stuff that feels like it goes deeper and delves into darker, more forgotten soundworlds than any other genre. Such is the power of what Old Forest are tapping into on their new album Sutwyke. It's a black metal record for black metal fans, a record that seems to consistently and eagerly prove to audiences that the classic black metal sounds that drew so many of us in all those years ago have become ever more important and fascinating tributes to the darkness to come.
With lyrics like "Life eternal/Path infernal" Old Forest eagerly lean into an old style of black metal satanism, showing a real fondness for the bitter darkness that shapes their music and which fascinates listeners as they delve ever deeper into the madness. Old Forest have found a way to fascinate listeners even with sounds that date back to the nineties. In fact, it's the willfully regressive nature of Sutwyke that helps to make it so compelling. THis is black metal done with an obsession with the past. There is no desire to expand, but only new and darker layers of depravity to lose yourself in. It's what the genre was built around.
Old Forest is black metal that leans into the darkest sides of the genre and revels in the bleak atmospheres that the music can kick up in its bleakest hours. Sutwyke is a record that feels cosmic in scale and oftentimes larger than life. This is what black metal was always meant to be about, twisted compositions that leave you doubting your sanity. While some moments of this record are almost freakishly primitive that's a huge part of the appeal and keeps me coming back, entranced with the darkness and begging for more.
Pre-order the album!
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