_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _ ___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___ | / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ | | . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . | | .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. | _ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _ \\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | // \ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | / . | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | . | | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | | .... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | .... | ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` | |.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....| . ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. . _____________:_____________ _____________:_____________ _ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _ // __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\ _ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _ \\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/f3!/// - -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- - - -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ - : : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : : ___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___ _\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_ /_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\ /// . . : : . . \\\ /: :\ /:: Artist :: Hate Forest ::\ :: Album :: Battlefields :: :: Year :: 2021 :: :: __ _ _ __ :: -:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:- :: \ / :: :: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CDDA . :: :: Label :: Black Metal Store R.date :: 05.05.2022 :: _::__ Cat.nr. :: BMS034 Size :: 73,6 MB __::_ ::// \\:: ::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\:: :: :: /: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\ ..: Bitrate :: avg. 261kbps : . . Quality :: 44,1kHz/Joint-Stereo . . . Website :: __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: 01. U Nedilyu... 01:54 :: :: 02. With Fire and Iron 09:14 :: :: 03. Provedu Ya Rusalochku... 01:03 :: :: 04. Our Fading Horizons 10:34 :: :: 05. Kolyskova 01:57 :: :: 06. Glare Over Slavonic Lands 10:20 :: :: 07. Keening 02:46 :: :: ------- :: .. >> 37:48 min .. __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: :: :: It's difficult to know what Hate Forest is singing about :: :: because the band members have never released lyrics for at :: :: least most of their songs. The band was associated with the :: :: national socialist black metal movement, an association the :: :: core band members themselves seem to regret these days: as :: :: Drudkh, they released a statement explicitly disavowing all :: :: radical politics, and they dissolved their projects :: :: associated with NSBM (specifically, Hate Forest and :: :: Astrofaes). :: :: :: :: In the case of Battlefields, though, it's not really :: :: necessary to read the lyrics to know what this album is :: :: about. The music itself tells the whole story, and it's a :: :: hellish one indeed. :: :: :: :: The album opens with a folk song in Ukrainian, not :: :: performed by the band. There are two additional folk songs :: :: and one field recording of weeping women included on this :: :: album; none of them are performed by Hate Forest. Native :: :: Ukrainian speakers below me have already written overviews :: :: of what these songs are about - one of them is a mother :: :: cursing her son for leaving for war, one is about :: :: witchcraft, and one is a lullaby. Not all of these are :: :: thematically connected with the album's core concept, but :: :: they are nonetheless integral to its message. The number of :: :: vocalists on each successive folk song is, crucially, fewer :: :: than the number of vocalists on the preceding folk song. :: :: This cannot have been a coincidence: it serves as a :: :: statement about how war whittles down the population. :: :: :: :: The band's three songs on this album, which are placed in :: :: between the folk songs, are some of the bleakest black :: :: metal that has ever been recorded. They are not actually :: :: all that typical of the genre; as is usual for Hate Forest, :: :: the vocals are the sort of hellish roar you'd expect out of :: :: death metal, while this time around the material often :: :: proceeds at a martial pace that bears unmistakable :: :: influence from doom metal. The atmosphere, though, is the :: :: sort of thing that one only generally gets from black :: :: metal. It sounds like this music came straight out of :: :: Mordor itself. :: :: :: :: Some listeners have claimed that the folk songs feel out of :: :: place or that they disrupt the flow of the album. I :: :: honestly don't understand this view, because they are :: :: central to the album's core concept and they help to :: :: provide a change of pace from the otherwise unrelenting :: :: bleakness. Don't get me wrong; in the context of the album, :: :: they are still tremendously bleak. However, thirty minutes :: :: of plodding doom-influenced black metal would quickly :: :: become a monotonous listen, especially after repeated :: :: listening. I think Hate Forest made the right decision to :: :: include the folk songs. :: :: :: :: After the album's three folk songs and three black metal :: :: songs finish, the album closes with a field recording of :: :: lamenting women. This has absolutely no musical qualities :: :: whatsoever, and at some points it becomes painful to listen :: :: to. Which is, of course, the whole point. It's difficult to :: :: imagine how the album could have closed more powerfully. :: :: After the battlefield has cleared, there is nothing else to :: :: do but mourn. :: :: :: :: This album is a stunning meditation on an experience with :: :: which Ukraine has had far too much familiarity over its :: :: history. I get the feeling that I wouldn't agree with much :: :: else about Hate Forest's politics, but it's difficult for :: :: me to regard this recording as anything other than a :: :: flawless work of art. :: :: :: :: . _ _ . :: \: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/ __\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2022 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__ \\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO/// \ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: / :: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | :: : :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: : :: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | :: :: | | \ :|: / | | :: : : | . ` ::: ' . | : : . . | : ::: : | . . | :::....:::....::: | : ::::::::::::::::: : . :::''``:::''``::: . : ::: : . ::: . .:. :