Reviewed by Brainsik
Within the Ancient Forest accentuates what gave Exhumed of the Earth, (a brilliant, sluggish, doom metal release), depth, substance and class; that is, the subtle classical elements from Exhumed of the Earth are poured into Within the Ancient Forest liberally: the female soprano vocals, death vocals, and violin are still present, but this album introduces Andrew's clean vocals, (he sounds like an eerie monk chanting -awesome!), a piano, a harpsicord and a cello to give the album a dramatic and epic theme.
Slightly faster than their first release, but still not mid-paced, this sophmore album follows the storyline of an alegorical short novel, of the same name, written by Andrew Tompkins, (the bassist and founder of the band). Written in the style of a fantasy novel, we follow the path of young De'nyl on a journey to find the truth. Along the way he finds a guide, a legend sword, faces a dragon and... well, read it.
This album is heavy, epic, doom, death metal scoring a story. Great album, rivaled only by their first release. And like their first release, this album is emphatically Christian, my favorite part about it.
If you like this band look for their other, newer releases: A Time to Mourn and Echoes from the Ground.