Ah, Forest Metal. Bands like Ellende or Waldgeflüster come to mind. Of course, the aforementioned outfits feature a different, darker style than Wintersun‘s latest. But hey, foresty musings can come in many forms. And we find all of those very hard to resist. Thus, seasonal greetings from under a leafy cover. Bungle in the jungle.
Somebody mentioned that Wintersun‘s 2017 full-length album The Forest Seasons was brimming with lush soundscapes, grand atmospheres, and all kinds of green and woody things. A record so good, everybody needed a copy for posterity, or else. Others were more reserved or felt outright miserable with Jari Mäenpää‘s performance, the man and mastermind behind everything, apart from the backing vocals and some growls. And I daresay, the statistic somewhat confirms this. Apart from Finland and some lists in the US, The Forest Seasons returned mixed results. Methinks that the record appealed mainly to Anglo-Saxon and German-oriented crowds. Instead, French-speaking areas didn’t accept the piece too well. And that’s pretty wild considering the vibrant Extreme Metal crowd in France, for example.
Interestingly, Jukka Koskinen (Nightwish) contributed with the backing vocals/growl combo, no slapping of the bass this time like on Time I. Mäenpää pretty much degraded him to the rank of extra and literally created a solo album of sorts. All of the above and an additional look at the album cover made us grab this 2017 behemoth and check it out. Because, you know, we have a soft spot for those jacks-in-all-trades.
The Forest Seasons contains pretty much all you could wish for. Spread over four massive tracks (surprise, it’s the seasons), there’s indeed an abundance of lush soundscapes. A multi-layered concoction leaning somewhat heavily into a mix of Dimmu Borgir and Moonsorrow. And it’s almost comical. The two aforementioned bands also fancy ridiculously long waiting times in between the release of records. It’s as if they shared some DNA somewhere.1
Wintersun‘s latest disk turned out to be a pretty complex mix of Symphonic and Atmospheric Death Metal. Some of it tenderly blackened to a point, without crossing the thin red line into Black Metal proper. Case in point, the soaring guitars often display discreet injections of tremolo. Albeit that a lot of the often powerfully burly riffs and solos leaned a tad too much into Power Metal. The subtle yet proficient orchestration at certain parts, the folksy acoustic passages, the delicate sampling that never goes for overkill, all of that is living proof of a pretty astute production. But – it’s the ceaseless vocals that hit dead-center on The Forest Season. The ever-present rasps, snarls, barks, and growls, plus the belted cleans that will rival Hansi Kürsch’s2 equally impressive pipes took us aback a few times.
But, as always, The Forest Seasons ain’t without its faults. First of all, the thing often sports a massive wall of sound that miserably suffers from too many compressors firing all at once. Yet another arrangement with too many layers, constructed just because they can. And that turns detecting the bass into an exercise in misery. Then, da master pushed the overly loud but listless drumming way up into the mix. To the point that some of the crew over here started to be St. Angered3 all over again.
Further, the tracks tend to careen about the soundscape in a felt endless loop like the famed pod race in The Phantom Menace of Star Wars. Recalling a theme is good for flow and consistency. But endlessly repeating the same riff or lick won’t make you earn a ton of brownie points. Instead, it makes the mind take off to fantasy land. And that, with none of the tracks shorter than 12 minutes, turns this into a pretty heavy listen.
As to the songs, Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring) kinda gave us an idea of where The Forest Seasons is heading. A good track and bombastic to a point, but for sure nothing to really write home about. In contrast, The Forest That Weeps (Summer) cuts the deepest. Powerful riffs, stomping drums, equally powerful clears, a soaring chorus, and crystalline acoustics remind you that you’re – in a forest. This is full metal impact supreme that risks cratering your eardrums.
Eternal Darkness (Autumn) is a weird one. Boring and difficult to get into at first with the drum attack from hell that drowns out everything else. But it works itself into a froth towards the end with some truly memorable melodeath moments seemingly straight from Insomnium. A track that ramps up its juice with a true bitch of a crescendo rewriting the rules of progression with all elements firing on full throttle. And once we’re finally really getting somewhere after some 14 minutes of playtime, it just – stops cold. On the first listen, the RMR crew thought that this was a mistake. But no, intention killed the suspense.
So, let’s face it. The Forest Seasons is no great record. But it is a very solid and good one. In a way, the piece sounds much like a musical version of a ‘pizza quatro stagioni’.4 Loads of ingredients and cheese on a pale doughy foundation, nicely divided into four parts. It’s something you eat, but – for some reason – it’s never quite satisfying enough. And this happens with this here record. The ingredients are all there and available in abundance. But somehow, with some exceptions, the mix never quite feels right. It is difficult to say what caused this, but let’s hope for the best for the next record. You know, the one in the works in the crowd-funded studio that should release – anytime soon. We’re – waiting.
Ed’s note: Fancy more blasts from the past? We got you covered.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Nuclear Blast Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 21 July 2017