In The Woods...  'HEart Of The Ages'
Misanthropy , 1995
Lord Pale :
Starting of with a long gentle intro which faded into some epic clean vocals I thought that In The Woods... had chosen the righteous path of neo-folk that their demo had hinted at , but shortly after the song changed , the chugging guitars came back heralding the start of the abysmal attempt at blackmetal vocals I dreaded which then dominated the rest of the track . I mean why ? Aren't they satisfied with one style ? Because the two they try so pretentiously to blend just don't mix ! Next to come was HEart Of The Ages rerecorded from their demo and my favourite song off of that release . This track seemed to turn out alright , some nice atmosphere , all clean vocals , a touch of keyboards , improved production , very promising . However the album again ping ponged back and forth between the good and the ugly after this track and couldn't be saved not even by the improving , though still crap female vocals . Two musicals appear on the album which in my way of thinking is too many for a release of only seven tracks and one in particular 'Mourning The Death Of Aase' was drawn out beyond all reasonable patience levels . If they can concentrate of the good bit and leave out the crap then In The Woods... may be able to write something memorable one day .
Favourite Tracks - HEart Of The Ages , The Divinity Of Wisdom
Mark - 5/10


In The Woods...  'A Return To The Isle Of Men'
Hammerheart , 1996
Lord Pale :
A Return To The Isle Of Men is a demo by In The Woods ... and as such has a lo-fi demo recording which unfortuantley doesn't do much for the type of music that they try to present . Fuzzy guitars grumble along at an uninspired plod , topped of by ridiculous blackmetal vocals that sound like a man choking on a stick of fritz . Well this is one element of the demo anyway , the other is an attept at epic neo-folk with some clean male vocals ranging from passable to quite good with some keyboards and crap female vocals . Where this release falls apart is its disjointedness between the two themes and the total lack of inspired songwriting . The tracks are too long and dreary and fail to capture the listener . The best thing I can say about this release is that occasionally when I was drifting off listening to it a decent riff or vocal passage caught my attention breifly ( before being destroyed by an equally pathetic piece straight after ) but over all this is just crap . Alot of work needed .
Favourite Tracks - HEart Of The Ages
Mark - 3/10


In The Woods...  'Omnio'
Misanthropy , 1997
Lord Pale :
Finally , Omnio sees In The Woods... focus on the epic clean vocals from previous albums ( which have improved vastly ) and have done away with the useless blackmetal-cum-scared badger vocals that ruined their first album . Those riffs that occasionally grabbed my attention in the past are here in abundance and some more melodic passages as well , all backed by a sprinkling of keyboards and a strings quartet . In The Woods... have decided to step up the ante in style and with a sweeping ochestral production Omnio sits well above their old material on a far grander scale of artistic expression . Female vocals are used to great effect on this album ( the quality of which also have improved greatly ) at time singing whole songs and at other intertwining with the clean deep male vocals to create a truely stunning effect . The structuring on Omnio follows in tune with the older material however this time the songs aren't overdrawn ( even those that go past the 10 minute bracket ) and weave their Nordic weirdness with great riffs and touching slower passages without the need to rely on chorus' and set verse melodies . Very original , very entertaining .
Favourite Tracks - 299 796 km/s , Weeping Willow , I am Your Flesh
Mark - 8/10


In The Woods...  'Strange In Stereo'
Misanthropy , 1999
Lord Pale :
Moving away from the ideas and symphonic atmosphere that forged the epic monstrosity 'Omnio' , In The Woods... return with a new offering delving into slower acid trip realms . The music is disparate and hollow with a empty atmosphere that sucks the very emotion out of the listener and leaves them numb , like the soundtrack to a foreign movie where a person is caged up hopelessly hallucinating . The clean male vocals as more subtely crooned and the melodies roam through to bewitching female vocals wailing helplessly . Very little metal content enters the equation with a few slow riffs that are tuned in more of a rock fashion , with violins being distorted and twisted throughout the course of the album . Gone completely are the shit blackmetal vocals , obviously an intentional progression has been developing away from that genre and this this more depressing style of darkwave stodge . The speed never reaches past a shell less snails best squirm , reversion is the key here , some nice gripping moments , but no real interesting songs to speak of . A shame in my opinion , I thought they were onto something with Omnio .
Favourite Tracks - ( None really )
Mark - 5/10


In The Woods...  'Three Times Seven On A Pilgrimage'
Prophecy , 2000
Lord Pale :
All three of In The Woods'... 7" Ep trilogy rerecorded on one disc . Some of the material contained within appeals to me alot , but some of the other material off of the different Ep's doesn't quite hit my G spot although they have some good moments throughout the songs . The brilliant Karmakosmik , is perhaps the best song of their career , with the classic duelling male/female vocals and slow building rhythm throughout acompanied by a short acoustic intro . The other material swings between rockier moments , more swooning moments ( Empty Room ) , to some technological edged tunes . This fairly well encompasses the In The Woods... experience as it has elements from across most of their career and is a definate improvement on their last release . This still is a far cry from Omnio , but it's a step in the right direction , unfortuantely for the band they disbanded shortly after this discs release .
Favourite Tracks - Karmakosmik , Let There Be More Light , White Rabbit
Mark - 6/10
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In the Woods