The Band: Dark Forest
Country: United
Kingdom
Answers by: Christian
Horton (guitar)
Dark Forest is about
to celebrate its 15th anniversary next year and their path cannot be brighter,
after this year’s forth full length "Beyond the Veil", the band
confirms his status as one of the references in the current heavy metal scene and
the years to come, every step they give bring them to a wider audience, commanded
by captain Horton, no tricks here.
Hello Christian,
thank you for this interview and congratulations for your new album
"Beyond the Veil"
Thanks very much!
The band has been
active since 2002, one demo, 3 EPs and 4 full-length albums later what are the
sensations in Dark Forest compared to those early years?
It's been a long
journey since those early days. We started off at rock bottom, not fully
knowing what we were doing, just playing as many local gigs as possible and
constantly writing songs. We've had various line up changes and all kinds of
experiences along the way, good and bad, but now we're easily the most
comfortable and also musically creative we've ever been. The one thing that has
always stayed the same though is the original vision, the flame of inspiration
has never been extinguished.
The band has gone
through some line up changes. For example, what has been the contribution of
last guys to go on board as Jenkins on guitars and Winnard on vocals?
Yeah they have been
the most important thing to happen to Dark Forest since the formation. We never
really had the right line up before. Everyone who has been in the band in
former years contributed in some way and will always be fondly remembered, but
now we feel that we have the perfect line up. Pat and Josh both share my
musical vision and their talent, Pat as a guitarist and Josh as a vocalist, is
amazing.
Your previous album,
The Awakening, was a big step for the band in terms of popularity and quality,
with great reviews. Comparing your new album "Beyond the Veil" to
that one, what would you say?
I'd say they were
quite different from each other. The Awakening had this brooding, darker feeling
to it, a lot of the lyrical content had a sort of protest feeling going on.
Beyond the Veil is far more uplifting and high octane. The songs have an
excitement to them and also the lyrics deal with very different themes, going
more into folklore and legend.
How long did you work
on "Beyond the Veil"?
Well the song
writing process itself actually started before The Awakening was released.
We're constantly writing songs you see, so you just get to a point when you
have enough for an album. Studio time we ended up spending eight days recording
and quite a few more mixing.
Who has pushed more
forward in terms on composition in the new album?
I'v always done the bulk of the writing but this is
the first album where Josh has had some contributions, (The Awakening was
actually written before he joined the band) but also Pat has written a good
deal too. The Wild Hunt was composed entirely by him, the lyrics being added by
myself. So we've been working together a lot more for this album compared to in
the past.
12 songs and more
than 70 minutes of music, some people might say it is too long... what do you
think?
I don't really understand how an album can be too
long, if you're a fan of a band and their music, how can you have too much?
You're just getting more music for your money's worth. There's also been many,
many bands from the 70's onwards who have made huge albums so I don't really
know where that idea has come from.
I don’t know either,
but it sounds as empty words to me, as long as we get quality the more the
better. You are going to release an especial vinyl edition in a luxurious
gatefold including an A2 poster. How did you get the idea?
That was our record label Cruz Del Sur Music. It had
to be a double gatefold album really because of the album length, but it was
the label who had the idea to include a poster and stickers, something we also
completely approved of ourselves.
Yes, you have signed
by the prestigious Italian label Cruz del Sur Music, which offers a great
roster of underground and cult bands, how do you feel with the guys?
Yeah it's a really good relationship we have with
them. We're more than happy being with Cruz Del Sur, there's some really good
bands on the label like our friends Atlantean Kodex, we're in good company!
Sure as the sky is
above us. After four albums, Dark Forest sounds like an important name to many
people, do you still feel as an underground band or those times are past and
Dark Forest is a band for all fans?
I don't think our attitude has ever changed and we
still feel the same way about ourselves as we always have done. It's a fact
that we're an underground band but we've always thought of ourselves as a band
for anyone, all fans. No matter who the person is, if you like our music then
we really appreciate you and would like to buy you a pint!
Another good reason
to be a fan :) In this "Beyond the Veil" the band shows a balance
between the classic twin-guitars heavy metal and the elements of folklore, tradition
and medieval melodies
Yeah there is a lot more of that atmosphere on this
album. It's something that we did quite heavily in the early days but we kind
of toned it down it for a while. I've always been a very keen reader of
folklore, mythology and history so I decided it was time to incorporate more of
that into the music again. It just feels right, it's the direction we want to
carry on with.
What are the lyrics
about in "Beyond the Veil"?
They range from topics of folklore and legend, such
as The Wild Hunt dealing with a piece of Scottish fairylore about the Unseelie
Court and The Undying Flame which is a take on the fated story of Lancelot of
Guinevere to topics of natural magic, paganism and the supernatural world like
in Autumn's Crown and On the Edge of Twilight. The Lore of the Land is to do
with mythology and folktales being archetypes that record the story of human
history, where we've come from and who we are. The title track is written from
the theosophic view point of how nature spirits interact with the physical
world.
Many people compares
Dark Forest with bands such as Cloven Hoof, Slough Feg, Iron Maiden or Skyclad,
how do you feel about it?
Yeah that's fine with us, I like all of those bands,
in fact I used to be a member of Cloven Hoof so it's not a problem at all!
What is your
favourite song in the new album?
It tends to change depending on how I'm feeling, but
at the moment I'd have to say either Where the Arrow Falls or On the Edge of
Twilight.
We get no fillers in
"Beyond the Veil", for example I really like the majesty of
Blackthorn or the heavy attitude in Autumn’s Crown
Thanks, yeah I obviously try and root out anything
that might be considered filler. If there is a song which isn't quite up to
standards we tend to re-work it, change it around, drop sections and write new
ones until it's good enough and we're happy with it. That's where the other
members also come in useful, sometimes when you're writing so much music, you
can loose track of what's good and what's not. It's always good to have
constructive criticism although I usually just end up with "come on, you
can do better than that!".
One of the strongest
points of your work is the great composition and the variety of sounds you
include along the whole album
Well thanks again, I can't really comment much on
that, we like to think that what we've created is good and we were all very
proud of this album, when we were in the studio, we just knew we'd created
something special. If other people agree then that's great!
Do you have any tour
dates scheduled to promote your new album?
We've got a few festival slots coming up, Harder
than Steel in Germany on 1st October and Hell Over Hammaburg on the 4th March.
There's also a few other things in the pipeline including something special
next year for our 15th anniversary!
Yes, a great an
emotional moment for the band. As a British band, you would say the British
Metal has lived better times or you still have a strong scene?
It's a lot better than it was ten years ago that's
for sure! When we started we couldn't find any other bands who played even
remotely the same style. There has been a resurgence recently of young bands
playing traditional heavy metal though which is great. Obviously it will never
be the same as it was in the 70s and 80s but at least it seems to be in a
better state now than it has ever been in the last twenty odd years.
What are your plans
for the future?
Continue to write music, play gigs and drink vast
quantities of Bathams Best Bitter.
Thank you Christian
for the interesting chat and wish you a great success with "Beyond the
Veil"
You're welcome, thank you very much, cheers!
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