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Featuring members of Botanist, Lotus Thief and Kayo Dot, FORLESEN draw from epic doom, black metal, slowcore and dark ambient to subvert traditional songwriting with their new full-length, “Black Terrain”, which weaves heartbreak and hypnosis to show FORLESEN at their most vulnerable and vicious. The band formed in San Francisco at the end of 2016 and released their debut, “Hierophant Violent,” in 2020. Now based in Portland, OR, FORLESEN continue their compositional evolution, expanding into previously untapped musical realms.
As with their debut, “Black Terrain”’s monolithic songs, at times approaching twenty minutes in length, fully immerse the listener in a contrast of the serene and cacophonous. “Strega” begins shrouded in an eerie atmosphere before embarking on a journey from vulnerable ballad to hymnal dirge. The ferocity of “Harrowed Earth” thrusts the album into the realm of black and doom metal. In the aftermath, “Saturnine” brings the album full circle, culminating in an ethereal mantra. “Black Terrain” evokes a sense of the grand, but also the intimate.
Each instrument and voice is carefully placed and each musical transition seamless to prevent the mesmerizing spell from being broken.
FORLESEN have crafted a stunning cinematic masterpiece, worthily complemented by an extraordinary cover painting by Benjamin A. Vierling.
