A Forest of Stars – Opportunistic Thieves of Spring (2010)

After their brilliant debut release “The Corpse of Rebirth”, A Forest of Stars (AFS) is back with their demented Psychedelic Black Metal that will puzzle the masses and will be praised by the select few that like experimental genre-bending music. “Opportunistic Thieves of Spring” is a huge step up for AFS, the album is 72 minutes long and features more intricate, more dense, and overall more grandiose compositions.

In the six songs presented on “Opportunistic Thieves of Spring” we found a very rich palette of different sounds and elements that at first, did not seemed to come along nicely. However, after a few listens we started getting immersed in the haunting (and demented) atmospheres presented in this release. Yes, the learning curve on this one is a bit steep, but once you are over the hump you will enjoy this release 100%.

The overall thick atmosphere created by the band is greatly contrasted by the use of sorrowful violins, keyboards, flutes and some female vocals the break the monotony created by the doom-like guitars. This contrast is very well crafted and these elements are used at precisely the right times to shake things up and keep the music fresh.

Vocal wise, the band does a great job at using Black Metal shrieks, screams and female vocals to outline the abstract themes presented on “Opportunistic Thieves of Spring”. Some of the screams sound a bit like insane asylum cries of pain, and we love them. The drumming is very well paced and creates a very hypnotic feeling.

“Opportunistic Thieves of Spring” is an experience by itself that will be appreciated differently by different people, however the band has created a very well crafted sound of their own that allows them to be highly unique in a sea of bands that all sound the same. We highly recommend this album to people looking for something different than the norm.

Release: June 1st, 2010

Country: UK