In The woods... 1st Album - HEart of The Ages - in my memory

In The Woods...  HEart Of The Ages (1995)

I got this album "HEart Of The Ages" in 1996, when I was a high school student.
I was eager to meet more interesting music and bands, then I found "In the woods..." in a feature article about Melodic Death/Black Metal, that was published on Japanese Heavy Metal magazine "Burrn". HEart Of The Ages was introduced with comment "Emotional slow Black metal", and Art work of dark woods attracted my interest in. I favor heavy metal, but I don't like almost fast tempo songs, I was searching for dark and melancholic music. This album just made for me.

 Their play is tremolo riff in the main, and male vocal uses equally both styles of screaming and clean voice like Eemperor, moreover female vocal with soprano voice often appears. But blast beat drumming is not used like other black metal bands. Freezing keyboard sounds behind melodic guitars and Vocals, I feel like that I am wandering in freezing and mystic woods as per their name "In the Woods..."

1st track

Yearning the seeds of a new dimension

 In the opening of 1st track "Yearning the Seeds of New Dimension", high tone echo is repeated just like sonar. and harmony of keyboard, that make me feel it just like cold wind, starts to sound step by step. That keeps sounding in a few minutes, I feel like I am stepping  into mystic woods. Guitars and vocal play majestic melody,  and then it gets silent, male vocal begins telling quietly. Suddenly voice transforms into black metal screaming, tremolo guitar riff also begins screaming.  

 Shortly after that, I had a opportunity to go to snowboarding. I was listening to this album while I was seeing snowed mountains on a bus to ski ground, this music just matched as BGM for the sight of winter mountains. I don't recommend this album to someone who needs pure primitive black metal. But I recommend this album to people who feel melancholic emotion from distortioned guitar sound, and also people who wants to be immersed in lonely sadness, just like me.

My town was snowed, while editing this contribution.

 The album was published from Misanthropy Records that published Burzum who are known as a symbolic band of black metal. But In The Woods...  denied that their music is Black Metal. They told that members often listen to music of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. Moreover  The Band also played their tunes on albums of In The Woods... .  Jefferson Airplane /"White Rabbit" is included in Japanese Edition of "HEart of the Ages", as a bonus track. And "Marquee/Belle Antique" that published this Japanese Edition is a label for progressive rock. If I need to mention which genre

their music is, I suppose it is Progressive Metal inspired by Black Metal sound.

Back of  Japanese Edition

However it is hard to apply In the Woods... to just one of genres, because of their characteristic  music. This is one of reason why I favor them. For a long time I have been searching for similar band such like In the Woods..., but I could not. I am sure that any band can not create such music but only In the Woods... can.

In the Woods... , that was re-unioned, published set of their 3 albums that was published in past time, named "Heart of the woods". The Booklet in the set is written about episodes and their thoughts of early days. I translated it in Japanese on this Blog. I hope that someone who wants to know of In the Woods... might be here in Japan.

Studying English is one of purpose on this blog. If you find mistake, feel free to comment. I glad of doing so. Thank you for reading this till the end!