Forever Autumn
Howls in the Forest at Dusk

Howls in the Forest at Dusk is the third offering by Forever Autumn, the project of Autumn Ni Dubhghaill from Massachusetts. And there are some noises that can be described as howls among the sounds of the seven tracks. The style is dubbed acoustic doom, a kind of stripped down version of doom metal, with the kind of vocals we hear in that genre but with acoustic instruments and more folk atmospheres. I would say that it is fairly fresh in terms of style, some might even think of it as original.

The atmospheres of the album can be descried as fairly folkish, kind of like an adventure in the forest or something similar to that. The sound could have been a bit better and the vocals could have been a lot better – I think the vocals are generally really bad, especially the creaking and croaking sounds. The album is quite short and the tracks are seven with decent variation with cellos, flutes and that sort of things. The premise of the album is strong while the sound isn’t quite as strong.

It is always a positive when artists does their thing and don’t follow the most travelled paths, artists who create what they imagine rather than copy what they like. Forever Autumn can probably be said to do just that but the music isn’t wonderful. There are some really exciting and great stuff on this album but the whole just doesn’t come together as the great album it should have potential to be. The vocal performance is my main problem but it wouldn’t be too bad had they had a better production and some more exciting songs.

The idea is good, the style is fresh, there are many things to like but it doesn’t quite add up to a strong album. Fans of the acoustic doom or folk genres probably see it differently though and I would recommend giving this album a chance before dismissing it. But in the grander scheme of things I doubt that this album will make much of a mark, plus for the relatively original idea and that the playing time is kept short but I doubt that I am part of the target audience for this album.

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