Surviving in the underground for over ten years, one-man entity Forest of Shadows has delivered some honest and passionate work. The sentimental value of Nicals Frohagen’s music is undeniable and this sophomore release continues his intimate path.
Forest of Shadows is a dark/doom metal project. Fans of meaningful music such as Novembre, Swallow the Sun, and Katatonia will find home in Six Waves of Woe though nothing here reaches the technical heights of those bands. Each song on this disc starts pretty tame with meek and docile vocals reminiscent of Mikko Kotamaki from Swallow the Suns more somber moments and Jonas Renske of Katatonia, only to climax with distorted guitars and low, violent growls. Where the first full-length Departure existed with 20 minute opuses, Six Waves of Woe shortens its execution somewhat and gets to the point quicker, which isn’t saying too much considering most of these songs average at over six minutes.
The upgrade in songwriting is something very noticeable from the debut as well. Though the formula works well my only complaint is that these songs do not have much to distinguish between them. They all follow the same build up pattern and after four or five listens I still can’t remember one song. Another example of this comes in the continuous riding of chords. Niclas crafts effective songs but there isn’t much substance after five minutes of riding chords. I would love to see Forest of Shadows become a full band and gather more texture. There is so much that can be done with his brand of dark music.
All in all this is a very solid album from a pretty stable project on Firebox. For a one-man band this is pretty mature stuff, simple yet effective. If dark doomy music is your thing I would definitely check Six Waves of Woe out. I just don’t believe its going make anyone wet their pants. See for yourself.
