Album Review: Evilfeast – Mysteries Of The Nocturnal Forest (Eisenwald)

Polish black metal miscreant Evilfeast is to reissue his grimly decayed debut album, Mysteries of the Nocturnal Forest, on November 30th via Eisenwald.

The lone multi-instrumentalist, GrimSpirit has over two decades of depraved black metal under his belt and under the name ‘Evilfeast’ originally released the album back in 2004.

A miserable wretch of a record, Mysteries of the Nocturnal Forest is darkly ambient, horrifyingly raw and dripping in despair. It’s a tough listen, purely because of the amateurish production job that gives it this annoying hissy quality making most of intricate guitar parts almost unlistenable.

It’s a shame as the miserable darkness that covers this record does it make appealing. The haunting intro of Ode to a Rising Full Moon grabs us by the hand promising sickly delights before revealing itself to have evil intentions on Immerse into Cold Mist and Thy Woods Are Sacred.

As black as a starless night, this is as old school as it can possibly get and for nearly an hour, Evilfeast drag you deep into their lair. It’s filthy, cold and smells of death. There is no escape.

Amongst the rotten remains of blackened bones are nuggets of hope though. These ambient touches that break apart the nonstop brutal assault. Solitude Apotheosis is still touched with the same horrors that drive the album forward but offer respite and rest which is well and truly needed as The Black Heavens Open and Morbid Rejoice finish the job.

Evilfeast – Mysteries of the Nocturnal Forest Full Track Listing:

1. Ode to a Rising Full Moon (Intro)
2. Immerse into Cold Mist
3. Thy Woods Are Sacred
4. Towards the Funeral Winternight Landscape
5. Solitude Apotheosis
6. Descending Winds of Holocaust
7. The Black Heavens Open
8. Morbid Rejoice
9. Desolate Fields Left (Outro)

You can order the album via Bandcamp and physical copies/merchandise via Eisenwald here.