Strange Old Brew

Carpathian Forest | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Peaceville UK
• ASIN: B000RHK0ZQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,096 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Norway

Editorial Reviews

2007 reissue of the second album from the ever-uncompromising Norwegian act Carpathian Forest, originally released in 2000. Considered a cult Black Metal release, the album deals with dark themes of death and suicide, introducing stronger atmospherics at times alongside their trademark brand of raw Black Metal mixed with inspiration from the '80s Black Metal scene and Rock/Punk genres. The band features mainman Nattefrost, who has lately enjoyed a successful solo-career, alongside his main band. Also appearing on Strange Old Brew is Tchort on bass, a familiar name from his previous work with Emperor's debut album and more diverse acts such as Green Carnation. Peaceville.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5, October 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Strange Old Brew (Audio CD)

Black metal, sort of in the vein of Dark Throne! There is a definite Celtic Frost vibe! Good production, good songs! A very underrated black metal band! If you like black metal (their not the symphonic type) then do yourself a favor and get this! 'Black Shining Leather' is good as well!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black Metal with emotion, September 23, 2004

By 

Jaron Evil (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Old Brew (Audio CD)

The thing you gotta bare in mind about Carpathian Forest is that they are very much into misanthropy and pure narrow-mindedness. They say so flat out. I am a black metal musician myself, and I understand how one might think these songs to be Black metal for punk fans, but I will GUARANTEE you if you approached these guys and said, "hey, your songs are too simple to be true black metal.", their response would be "Thats all you f**king deserve you whiny little b*tch!!" Carpathian Forest, for that reason could be called emo-black metal, since the majority of their songs are about pure hatred and rage, rather than being about impressing the listener with a bunch of technical riffing, epic songwriting, or symphonic back-up. If you're more into technical riffing then I reccomend Immortal. If Symphonic Black metal is your thing, try Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir. If you want pure relentless narrow-minded misanthropic black metal, Carpathian Forest is about the best there is.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising Variety, July 29, 2008

By 

Fred Rayworth (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Old Brew (Audio CD)

Each time I browsed the CD store, I kept coming across these guys. The album artwork, their logo, name, and cheap price of the CD's kept me coming back to them time after time. I did a little search on YouTube and found a few live videos of them. I don't like the staged MTV type videos because they don't show how bands really look live, but there was no problem finding something live by these guys. Their sound is a catchy blend of black metal and heavy riffing, and not just a blur of noise and growling.

I finally took the plunge and bought this CD and must say I'm not disappointed. Though their "black" image seems more like "schtick" than true believers, there is no doubt where the music is coming from.

I guess Carpathian Forest only has one steady member, and that is Nattefrost. I've noticed a revolving door of musicians on their other albums with him being the constant. Reminds me of Bathory in that way.

This album is raw, but filled with sophisticated orchestration and is not a steady blast beat pace. There is variety in the songs, and some great and memorable riffing. Maybe this is what black metal should be. At times it is raw and has a Hellhammer or Bathory feel, while at other time, it stands on its own and nothing else is quite like it.

The only problems I see with this album are that everything in the mix is buried by the guitar, especially on the first half of the album. The vocals, in particular, are buried in the mix. They don't stand out like vocals should be. The drums and bass sound best when they are punctuating the guitar. When things get going, it's pretty much the guitar with a bunch of other stuff going on in the background. This gives it a primitive "garage" feel that actually adds to the charm. The more orchestrated songs are mixed different but not enough that they jar the musical themes on the album. The last song, which is a bonus track, He's Turning Blue, goes back to the same style as the first song and makes a great ending to the CD.

This is unique and well done black metal, not just a dirge of noise and growling. Highly recommended.