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Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

Forever Autumn Crowned in Skulls Review by Gary Hill This act is listed as a metal band, so I'm going to include this under heavy metal. I have to wonder if their other music is different, though. This is moody, acoustic and rather freaky. There are some extreme metal vocals, but beyond that this is closer to folk music. It's quite intriguing, though. I have to mention that the track order on the CD is different than the way it's listed on the cover. I've put the songs in the order they actually appear on the disc. This is a unique release that's not for everyone. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024 Volume 1 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Track by Track Review

Dried Herbs in Water So many albums save epics for last. This track, at almost ten-minutes long, is the epic here. It comes in very slow and almost classical. It remains moody and subdued as vocals come over the top of a stripped back, almost symphonic arrangement that has hints of acoustic psychedelia. It's past the three-minute mark when it starts to move out from there. It's just a minor adjustment, though. It continues to build gradually. Some screamed vocals come over a more rocking, but still acoustic, arrangement after the seven-minute mark.

The Forest and the Nyght Acoustic music merges with those screamed vocals. The cut gets more melodic singing at times. This is dark and yet folk-like. There is an otherworldly, creepy vibe to this thing.

Incense and Deer Skulls This is an instrumental piece. It has a dark and moody vibe to it, but also a certain natural beauty and sense of mystery. It's largely tentative and slowly growing. It's also quite intriguing.

Death Folk Less than a minute long, one might expect such a short piece to be an instrumental. This does have screamed, extreme vocals, though. Otherwise, it's not far removed from the rest of the stuff here. There is a sense of tension and danger built into this thing.

Under Shadows of Annwn More traditional acoustic guitar strumming gets us going here. This is more melodic and almost proggy in some ways.

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