In The Woods… - Diversum (2022)

Just when you think a band that you really like will be heading downhill after replacing their vocalist, the band comes back with one epic release easing all concerns. Luckily for us, this is the case for In the Woods… and their latest opus “Diversum”. Blowing people's minds back in the mid to late 90’s with the evolution of their Black Metal roots to Avant-garde Metal territories, the band came back to life in 2014 with three of the band’s original members and a new vocalist which was quickly replaced by the super talented James Fogarty of Ewigkeit/Old Forest fame.

The band’s clean vocals have always been one of their staple elements and luckily on the band’s return ‘Mr Fog’ was able to hold his own and added to the band’s sound with his own unique style. Replacing him was a tall order however, with Bernt Fjellestad the band’s sound is even more epic than before. From the opener “The Coward’s Way” to the majestic “Moment”, we are quickly impressed with the soaring clean vocals and their transition to harsh screams. The music greatly adds to the overall feeling of elation thanks to its crafty proggy and yet heavy nature, with some piercing Black Metal-ish riffs that weirdly fit perfectly.

As always, the band’s sound is hard to pin down, but tracks like “We Sinful Converge”, “The Malevolent God”, and “A Wonderful Crisis” offer the band’s quirky weirdness thanks to a mixture of Rock/Metal elements that the band has curated over the years and keeps contrasting with heavier passages and harsh vocals. This unique ‘randomness’ as you can call it, keeps the band’s music engaging, refreshing, and very dynamic, as you never know when the clean vocals will soar with epic melodies or you will get a tempo change and pummeling drumming.

Having been a fan of the band for quite a while, we have to say that the closers “Master of None” and “Your Dark” perfectly encapsulate the band’s craftiness, catchiness, and contrasting nature. As a whole, “Diversum” is one hell of an album that nicely continues the band’s legacy and feels even more inspired than their previous post-return releases, and those albums were already pretty awesome. Do not miss out on this epic piece of music.

Label: Soulseller Records

Release: November 25th, 2022

Genre: Avant-garde/Progressive Rock/Metal

Country: Norway