CD Review: A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

Written by Björn Butzen Wednesday, 17 October 2012 11:05

Artist: A Forest Of Stars
Title: A Shadowplay For Yesterdays
Genre: Black Metal / Progressive / Avant-garde
Release Date: 20th July 2012
Label: Prophecy Productions/ Lupus Lounge

Album Review

“The year is 1892. The members of the Gentlemen's Club A Forest Of Stars, an exclusive brotherhood of Victorian Englishmen who consider themselves representatives of their era, an era as glorious and splendid as it is decadent and characterised by extreme opposites. When this Gentlemen's Club invites you to one of their shadowplays, you should not only expect smoke-filled air and tea laced with hallucinogens, but also a moral abyss and a hellish journey through your own subconsciousness. For it is primarily in the shallows of the human psyche where the shadowplays of A Forest Of Stars take place and where the sins are dancing to their tunes.”
-Prophecy Productions about “A Shadowplay For Yesterdays”-

First glimpse on the homepage of A FOREST OF STARS leaves the impression of an artistically challenging collective of musicians that reminds me a little bit of CINEMA STRANGE. The first listening instead, literally blew me away. Although the remembrance of CINEMA STRANGE gleamed through the cacophony of the songs, there’s another band that came up to my mind and that I’m really into: ARCTURUS. Somehow A FOREST OF STARS that made their debut on Lupus Lounge with ‘A Shadowplay For Yesterdays’, their third release at all, are capable of bringing their cacophony of sounds into a certain euphony. The whole release is therefore disturbing and fascinating at once.

Dealing with the concept of a man at odds with himself, torn between virtue and the path of blasphemous (self-) destruction, the Gentlemen's Club enters new realms. A combination of vanguard Black Metal, epic Doom, progressive party und atmospheric Rock elements turns this release into a journey like Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s really hard to describe what happens to you while listening to this release – but in a positive way. Like the man A FOREST OF STARS are telling of, you’re going to be torn apart between those parts full of hatred and anger and the almost tender and slight parts that leaves no doubt that they’re just the tip of the iceberg until the next psychedelic exhalation finds its way…

‘A Shadowplay For Yesterdays’ is a diversified and ambitious release that offers unequalled opportunities – although there are a few parts that could be more homogeneously respectively could lead across the parts in a accommodating way (some party are a bit rough and raw and need a denser composing, in my opinion). Nevertheless, I’m quite excited what the Gentlemen’s Club keeps in readiness – I’m Sure it’s not the last soul-devastating work these guys are able to evoke…


Tracklist

01. Directionless Resurrectionist
02. Prey Tell of the Church Fate
03. A Prophet for a Pound of Flesh
04. The Blight of God's Acre
05. Man's Laughter
06. The Underside of Eden
07. Gather of the Pure
08. Left Behind as Static
09. Corvus Corona (Pt. I)
10. Corvus Corona (Pt. II)


Line-up

Mister Curse - Vocals
Katheryne, Queen of the Ghosts - Violin, Flute, Vocals
The Gentleman - Keyboards, Percussion
Henry Hyde Bronsdon - Guitar, Vocals
Mr Titus Lungbutter - Bass
Mr John "The Resurrectionist" Bishop - Drums, Percussion
Sir Gastrix Grimshaw - Guitar, Vocals
The Projectionist - Live Lighting, Phantasmagoria and Projections, Music Videography and Photomancy


Website

http://www.aforestofstars.co.uk/ / http://www.myspace.com/aforestofstars/music / http://www.facebook.com/aforestofstars


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 8.5 / 10