Forest Whispers: Zamieć (2017)

Forest Whispers is another band I discovered through Bandcamp.  I was kind of expecting more of an atmospheric black metal band, in the vein of earlier groups I reviewed like Vvilderness and Saor, not this frostbitten black metal sound that owes more to Darkthrone and Immortal and the early material of their Polish countrymen in Behemoth.

After a spellbinding instrumental introduction, Forest Whispers sets the stage for most of the rest of the album with "Gniew".  The song features tremolo riffing and cold, raspy vocals that will carry forward.  Forest Whispers also utilizes a number of very pretty instrumental interludes, calling back to the introductory track.  This song would fit in nicely on Behemoth's Pandemonic Incantations album. 

It is the juxtaposition of the light and warm melodic passages against the dark and cold obviously black metal sections that is the highlight of this release.  Each song seems to have at least one section where the band lightens things up by including very pretty melodies where the drums and bass drop out.  Even in the band's heaviest moments, some of that melodicism is still present, creating a captivating sound that makes this a very impressive black metal release. 

I thoroughly enjoy this release, particularly the dichotomy of light and dark that is present throughout the album.  Unfortunately, Forest Whispers will likely have limited appeal due to the fact that the band's lyrics are all in Polish.  That's a shame, because the band definitely has talent.