OPHIDIAN FOREST : REDBAD
Ziekte-NL
It’s common to refer to creative partnerships as ‘a meeting of minds’, but never was that more true than of Ophidian Forest, a trio of musicians who span the reach of two continents and collaborate by exchanging files in the post and via the net. Although this sounds like it could be the recipe for a disaster, it seems that Amalgamoth, Otrebor and Zaragil have an uncanny unity of vision, for it surely takes some shared kind of ferocious madness to produce the chaotic and dirty yet oddly rousing pagan sound that comprises their 2007 debut “Redbad”.
Ophidian Forest’s music has a excellent depth, put in place by a grim bass guitar that, on tracks such as “Savage Day Rising”, doesn’t even particularly want to work in tandem with its fellow instruments, instead inhabiting a nasty, adversarial position contributing to the churning gutsiness of the album as a whole. Another aspect that seems completely hateful and unyielding is Amalgamoth’s vocal performance, an incredibly harsh, rasping screech for the main part, breath-taking when it first kicks in on the uncanny blizzard of “Herald on Silver Wings”. There’s another style, too, a cleaner, more epic, ritualistic tone that makes “Pagan Pride in Hell” such a meditative, imposing track.
For all the spite and confrontation, though, there are mean and lively elements that generally hold the whole onslaught together, most notably the suitable yet loose percussion, and the weaving of catchy rhythms between the grander aspects such as the disturbing and oppressive but melodic keyboard movements. A track like “Talisman of Fate” uses these firm songwriting anchors to spin mid-paced riffs around with a good degree of style. The evocation of ‘dark medieval times’ is played out through aggression, bleakness, savagery and just a little touch of mystery, evident in the opening of “Shamanic Visions”, and in the drama of “Pagan Pride”. The absence of any cheesy elements, and the interesting figure who forms the concept for the album as a whole, makes this a very pleasing interpretation of heritage.
In all, despite the roughness of the execution sometimes miring Ophidian Forest’s ideas down a little, this is a full-blooded and committed effort that surpasses expectations that one might have of a release constructed in such a strung-out manner. The challenge from here is to progress this pleasingly odd and noisy sound over the course of future releases – seeing as how it would thoroughly satisfying to hear more mixing of pagan glory with pagan violence, it just remains to wish the band all the best with this endeavour.
68/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
