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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming Warmth within the Cold,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Crown of Winter (Audio CD)
I only found this relatively obscure Russian Doom Metal band by spending too much time on metal forums when their first album came out, spending practically all my extra income on discovering the vast, glorious world of metal. "Tears of Mortal Solitude" has always been a jewel in my collection, it has always given me something unique that I never found anywhere else. Ever since then I have waited and waited for another album. Six years later, the day has finally come, after countless delays.
I have to say it was worth the wait. I absolutely love long, winding, atmospheric songs and Forest Stream has mastered all of these elements even more so than the first album. One of the first things I noticed is this album has a huge improvement in the harsh vocals. I don't know if it's just the production (which is leaps and bound better), but the vocals seem much more "in your face." There are also much more clean vocals, which is refreshing as well. After a short, theatrical fantasy-style opening instrumental, a chilling piano opens the first song, setting the grim, cold, yet somehow charming, magical sensation the entire album is about to follow. Shortly, the heaviness is added that the listener has been anticipating, and the song twists down many different melodic paths. This song, which is the title track, is probably my personal favorite of the album. The instrumentals are just breathtaking and it is simply one of the most "epic" metal songs I have heard to date. Simply "Doom Metal" fails to describe the pure diversity of this album. This album pulls metal influences from all realms. I would say it is Black Metal just as much as Doom - it is quite symphonic but not to the point of overdoing it, becoming cheesy. It is also not as slow as Doom Metal usually is. Some songs or parts of songs are actually quite brutal. In fact, the songs are overall heavier than and not as slow as their first album. Some songs on their first album tended to go on a bit long without much direction and were somewhat repetitive, that is not the case anymore. These songs have much more direction and complexity to them. "Autumn Dancers" is possibly my second favorite track. It employs the perfect blend of everything Forest Stream has to offer, including some of the most killer melodic riffs while still keeping the song flowing with the rest of the album and utilizing calmer instrumentals. An instant favorite. The intro of "The Beautiful Nature" is very interesting, almost a little annoying but turns out to be a very memorable final track for the album, emitting an intense melancholy and forlorn feeling before fading into the outro track, similar to how it all begun. So, without a doubt, The Crown of Winter is one of my top metal albums of 2009. I can't put it down. I think Forest Stream is an extremely talented band and sadly, they remain so obscure. Every metal fan ought to give them a try.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crown Of Winter (Audio CD),
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Crown of Winter (Audio CD)
Crown Of Winter is the second album from Russian metal act Forest Sream. For those of you who are familiar with Forest Stream's first album, Tears Of Mortal Solitude, I think you will know what to expect but for those of you who are new to Forest Stream here's a bit of info about the album. The album Crown Of Winter is extremely well made, being produced in five weeks as opposed to three weeks for Tears Of Mortal Solitude. While the songs on Tears Of Mortal Solitude where largely instrumental the songs on Crown Of Winter feature more vocals (although the vocals sound much the same on both albums). Instrumentaly, Crown Of Winter uses more haunting piano, powerfull guitar work and blast beat drumming than on Tears Of Mortal Solitude. This second album makes just as big an impression as the fist, if not bigger. Use 'Feral Magic' in the beginning to obtain a glimpse of 'The Crown Of Winter', were you get 'Mired' in the snow and the winters 'Bless You To Die', were you then get to watch 'Autumn Dancers' dance to 'The Seventh Symphony of ...' under 'The Beautiful Nature' before falling into 'My Awakening Dreamland'. If you are a fan of Tears Of Mortal Solitude or are new to Forest Stream then this album is a good place to start.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wooded Creek. Get it?? Ah, nevermind...,
By Corpsie (Redlands, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Crown of Winter (Audio CD)
Forest Stream; a name that conjures visions of...uh...forests and streams. No, this isn't the popular redneck publication Field & Stream nor is it the incredibly awesome party store Florists and Streamers. Instead, Forest Stream is a heavy metal band hailing from Chernogolovka, Russia where the vodka flows free and bears ride unicycles with cute party hats on.
Forest Stream has been around for a while and apparently formed way back in 1995 but didn't release their first full length Tears of Mortal Solitude until 2003. The Crown of Winter, released in 2009 by Candlelight Records, is Forest Stream's sophomore effort that looks to be almost six years in the making. And no, you don't have to be mega superstars to wait years before releasing albums. Even underground bands have that privilege. You can't rush art! Unless you're Jackson Pollock. I digress. Honestly, when I first saw the name Forest Stream, I was expecting some gimmicky, keyboard-laden, operatic female-fronted garbage. Just as a qualifier, I don't mind some of those bands. My metal tastes span over the entire genre. But The Crown of Winter is an eclectic and eccentric mixture of styles and moods. Clocking in at a nice 59.9 minutes and bookended by an intro and outro (there sure are a lot of those these days), Forest Stream has created a solid album if not exactly original. It's hard to pin down what exactly The Crown of Winter is trying to achieve or if it can even be pigeon-holed into one category. There are so many influences ranging from My Dying Bride and Morgion to Opeth, Emperor, Katatonia, and even Bathory. Do you like your morose moments of doomy despair? Yep, this album has them. How about blast beats? Check. The shortest song on the album is "Bless You to Die" which comes in at over seven minutes (plus it sounds exactly like Ihsahn from Emperor may have lent a hand in crafting it). This isn't an album you can just plop into the CD player...man I'm old...I mean on the mp3 player at a party and expect everyone to love it in single-serving three to four minute tracks. This is an album you have to absorb when you have the time to sit and listen. It was perfect for me since it was raining and cold when I first received my copy. What are my gripes? As much as I do like the mix of different influences throughout, I started to get frustrated with it. As I briefly mentioned above, the song "Bless You to Die" started blaring out of my speakers and I thought my mp3 player had skipped to Emperor. At other times I had to double-check and make sure Opeth wasn't on. I think on one level, it works because they are drawing from some great influences and paying homage to them. On another level, it feels unoriginal and, to a lesser degree, almost plagiaristic. The Crown of Winter isn't a focused release and I think Forest Stream is struggling to find a sound that stands out and which they can call their own. With that said, I did like the album and believe Forest Stream has a lot of promise. They just need to release newer albums on a regular basis and find their musical niche.
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