Band:	A Forest Of Stars
Album:	The Corpse Of Rebirth
Style:	Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	January 2008

01. God
02. Female
03. Male
04. Earth And Matter
05. Microcosm

A Forest Of Stars is not your average run-of-the-mill Black metal band. Coming from the UK, they have that typical British attitude with them of class, high-tea, bowler hats and walking-canes. Ok, that's probably stereotyping and generalizing too much, but if I'd have to give it a place in history I'd place it in the nineteenth century, in a scene similar to that described in for example "The Picture Of Dorian Gray", by Oscar Wilde. Take that and morph it into Black metal and you'll probably get A Forest Of Stars.

Mister Curse (vocals), Katheryne, Queen of the Ghosts (violin, flute and vocals), The Gentleman (synths, pianoforte and drums) and Mr T.S. Kettleburner (guitars, bass, vocals), as they call themselves, have crafted a fine piece of not-so-ordinary Black metal. "The Corpse Of Rebirth", their first full-length, is chockfull with top-notch, sophisticated music. The violin dominates the mood with its sad, weeping sound while the howling and despaired vocals give the sound an extra melancholic touch. That's not where it stops though, not at all. During the song "Female" they do not sound melancholic at all, but instead evoke a very evil and malicious atmosphere and in the song "Earth And Matter" the drums suddenly become the main focus of the sound and the mood shifts to a ritualistic and entrancing ambience. The last song, "Microcosm", is just plain beautiful. These are the strengths of this album, the experimental approach combined with great songwriting, enhanced by a good production.

As for references, it is impossible to pinpoint it down to one or two bands, as it definitely has its own sound and it wouldn't surprise me if the members rarely listen to Black metal themselves. Fans of Deinonychus, Bethlehem and the Peaceville Death/Doom trio will probably like this. As will everyone that likes his Black metal the experimentation/Avant-garde way. Do keep in mind the sound has a heavy violin-focus, if that instrument puts you off you may want to look somewhere else.

All in all "The Corpse Of Rebirth" contains five tracks which together span over an hour, a very extensive and detailed booklet (so I'm told, I only have the promo copy unfortunately), great Black metal with unique and interesting twists: sounds like one hell of a deal to me.