Forgotten Spell

Ensom Skogen/Forgotten Spell/Moonblood Split
Misanthrophia Discos, 2015
Genre: Black Metal

Ensom Skogen:
1. Herrschaft des Feuerkults (Part II)
2. Der Triumph, ist mein (Part II)
3. Gestank der Menschheit (Part II)
4. Lodernde Beschwörung (Part II)
Forgotten Spell:
5. Metamorphosis in a Spiritual Spectral Sphere
6. Aesthetics of the Necromantic Manifestation
7. Proclaiming Satan
Moonblood:
8. Slave of Eternity (Nachzehrer)
9. The Unholy


Side Ensom Skogen: here
Side Moonblood: here

Side Forgotten Spell: 

Forgotten Spell is the last band I'll be experiencing on this split, naturally I listened to Moonblood first. Unlike the other projects, Forgotten Spell seems to have put some brand new material on this release and in looking into their back catalog they have a lot of releases under their belt. Forgotten Spell is a one man project by Angra Malakh.

I was a little surprised when this material came on, it was a lot faster than I was expecting and far more bombastic. The material sounds like, frankly, a chaotic mess. While I know some people can find that concept appealing, as are the legions of Beherit fans warrant, but it's never been my thing. The band Forgotten Spell reminds me of in my own collection is De Magia Veterum, since that guy plays this kind of music as well and both projects started about the same time. The way things are recorded here makes the music feel rather choppy, probably from things being off time by mere milliseconds. I think the music in the second track "Aesthetics of the Necromantic Manifestation" was a little better. The drums felt a little more solid as well, but after a while things got messy and choppy again, which doesn't help me feel out the music. While some may find this a feature, it really mars my listening experience and at nearly 17 minutes its a bit long to stomach the whole thing. It's a real shame, to me, because there are some very good riffs in some of these songs and if he could just harness his sound and get some more control over it, I think it would wind up being some very good Black Metal in the grand scheme of things. His vocals are nothing special, at times he reminds me of Meyhna'ch, but not as interesting.

I'm certainly not going to be tracking down prior recordings from this project (of which there are many), but if you like your Black Metal chaotic and insane sounding, then this might be a project to check out. Given this isn't the only time I've heard this type of musical performance leads me to believe there is certainly a market out there for it, I'm just not in that target demographic. Perhaps I am a bit more of a traditional musician and that's exactly what these bands are working against, which would make sense to me.