Band's List Atmospheric Black Folkstorm (NL) De Stemmen Van Het Woud

Netherlands’ “Folkstorm” is a fairly new band, although the term ’band’ might be inappropriate as it consists by a sole member. As an ‘one-man-project’ then, it displays both the weaknesses and the strengths of such a case. The genre in which “Folkstorm” would happily fit, is this kind of Ambient Black Pagan Metal that shouldn’t be unfamiliar to fans of “Summoning”.

''De Stemmen Van Het Woud'' is their first release after a demo and a split. The music displayed here is of a standard and it shouldn’t disappoint those who like their sonic environment to be filled with sounds of an atmospheric soundtrack (dark has to be said). It consists of 5 songs lasting over ¾ of an hour meaning that most of them are of an epic length and, indeed, musical approach. The CD flows in a consistent way and the mood doesn’t get much happier than a walk in a rainy dark forest! The songs show a repetition that is essential for the doomy feeling they wish to create, but, on the other hand, it deprives the final result of interesting surprises. The ‘ambient’ parts are reminiscent of the early works of “Mortiis” creating ‘soundscapes’ of keyboard-filled tranquility, whereas the more Black Metal side owes a lot to Burzum’s, Drudkh’s, etc melancholic paths. The riffs are of the slow, heavy kind and they mix well with the keys. The drum-machine sounds weak though, not displaying any imaginative breaks or changes. Furthermore, they are mixed way back, keeping an elementary role. Hopefully, the recruitment of a real drummer that has been announced will solve the matter! The vocals are quite scarce and whenever they are present they are like howls to darkness.

The presentation of their album is relative to its content. A cover depicting a forest helps the listener to enter their realm even before pressing ‘play’. The production is a bit hazy, but it’s not subtracting from the final result as a clearer mix could destroy the dim environment they wish to create.

The album in its entirety didn’t shake my foundations, but, on the other hand I didn’t regret the time spent listening to it. It is a typical example of slow to mid-tempo atmospheric black metal, but what I’ll keep from my introduction to the band is their intention to sound grim and evil, as opposed to other happier albums that are disguised as black and have saturated the scene.

15/20