Forest Stream - The Crown Of Winter

Forest Stream's "The Crown Of Winter" is a album where i guessed what they would sound like without ever hearing them and i was right 100%. Typical generic euro doom or so they call it, i prefer to think of it as prog - metal with doom elements. But is it bad, not at all, most of it is actually pretty good but its a very predictable album in so many ways. The band is actually from Russia and it is true that these Russian metal bands do have a knack for writing highly complex, emotive compositions but i am starting to think the "doom tag" that all these type of bands are getting is very mis-leading indeed. There is not much Sabbath worship here or Saint Vitus type musical leanings. This is more in the vein of Katatonia, Opeth with a little Swallow The Sun thrown into the mix. None of those bands strike me as being doom metal but maybe they hear things a little different in that part of the world. The Crown of Winter is still metallic and ethereally ambient at times but the generic use of time changes, odd time signatures, and melancholic themes has become a very over used by bands these days. The album begins with a ambient build up as an introduction before moving into the 11 minute album titled track. They mix the tinkering of piano keys with waves of distortion pretty well and there is the usual shifts between aggression and moments of pure tranquility.

"Mired" is a good track with double bass drum work and strong melody lines and musically there is some very slight black / death metal moments. The black metal sections are only a small portion of the album but they are effective in their usage. Other standout tracks are "Blessed You To Die" and "The Seventh Symphony Of Satan" which blends black metal with keyboard - laden doom metal. Forest Stream excels at their respected instruments, especially in the keyboard department, but they lack any strong vocals at all. While the deathly growls are effective, the clean singing ranges from just OK to utterly powerless. Once again the problem i have is Forest Stream has a sound to them that is reminiscent of so many bands in the genre and while the instrument work is of a very high standard, the vocals are a bit of a nuisance to listen to. The songs i have mentioned in this review are great but the rest of the album contains too much padding. There is also too many over-extended endings to songs which just points to lack of ideas, considering their last album "Tears of Mortal Solitude" was released way back in 2003, i was expecting a lot more. However "The Crown Of Winter" is a improvement for Forest Stream and shows potential for greater things. I just hope they don't spend another 6 or 7 years doing it, for now though i am sure some euro doom heads will get into this album. 6/10

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