-Forest Stream-

Russian blackened doom masters Forest Stream were founded by Sonm The Darkest (drums) and Ungel (guitar) in 1995, in a quest to try and create some the most sorrowful music in existence. Soon after that Sonm met Wizard Omin and invited him to join the band as a second guitarist. In those days being inspired by the mighty Katatonia and My Dying Bride, they decided to play what the band describe as 'Tunes of Dark Despair', the goal of which was to conjure the ultimate in sadness in every sound. Unfortunately in 1997 Ungel left the band due to personal reasons, but just before this Silent Anth started to help Forest Stream as bass player, and he quickly became a permanent fixture.

Four long, harsh, Russian winters from their inception passed before the band’s first demo “Snowfall” was recorded. Their ethos quickly became clear; Forest Stream wanted to capture hopelessness of it all in their music – of life, of love and of existence. They wanted the listener not just to hear the music, but to feel it as well, to create an underlying, all enveloping atmosphere.

In 2000 they recorded their second demo called 'Last Season Purity', and Forest Stream were now starting to make their mark on the international stage. With 10,000 downloads on MP3.com, purely by word of mouth, Forest Stream’s “Winter Black Metal” was gaining them a reputation as the best band of their kind in the world.

In 2002 they signed to Elitist records for a four-album deal and soon embarked on recording “Tears Of Mortal Solitude” in their native Moscow. This album is the first in a trilogy, the concept being “All The sorrow, all the majesty and all the hate”. This first album, “all the sorrow” in the trilogy, showcases Forest Stream’s passion for the dark and their overwhelming sense of the epic and overblown. Musically it harks back to the golden age of the early 90’s – of the wave of English doom bands, but also the unmistakable chill of the black metal explosion in Norway. With a combination of those sounds brought together with a modern approach, the sound is as fresh as something quite so utterly crestfallen can possibly be.

The band overcame a myriad troubles to get this album made. Equipment was stolen, rehearsal rooms were destroyed and Sonm’s relocation to Holland (he is studying for his doctorate in physics) made it a near impossible task. Nine months later the album was finally made, and the tribulations incurred just made it more miserable and heartfelt than ever thought possible.

Forest Stream are masters of their chosen art. Their songs are hugely epic and wonderfully symphonic. They evoke mental imagery of desolation, of lost love and of a bleak, unrelenting despair. Each riff is carefully crafted for maximum, heartbreaking effect; each word written designed to trigger the blackest of thoughts.

Forest Stream are the soundtrack to the end of the world.

By Lee B. (Elitist rec. nov' 2002)