Dark Forest (band)
Dark Forest is a heathen folk metal band based in Calgary, Canada.
Members
- David Parks - Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Bass Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals, Mouth Harp, Drum Programming (on 'Demo 2005' & 'Aurora Borealis' 2006 original issue). Now also Accordion, Tin Whistle, Violin.
Live Session Musicians
- Mark Zemlak - Guitars, Backup Choir
- Theodore John MacLean - Bass Guitars
- Don Mitchell (also in: Lords Of The Mountain) - Keyboards
- Griffin Kissack (also in: Lords Of The Mountain, Nebucadnezzer) - Drums
Past Session Musicians
- Connor Nowack - Guitars
- Justin - Bass Guitar
Discography
Demo 2005
Format: CD-R Label: None Release Date: July 20, 2005 Running Time: 21m:24s
- Warwinds
- Under The Northern Fullmoon
- Eternal Forest
- Among Silent Pine
Aurora Borealis
Format: CD Label: Bleak Art Records Release Date: July 31, 2007 Running Time: 68m:25s
- Aurora Borealis
- Wind and Waves
- Thurisaz
- Under The Northern Fullmoon
- Eternal Forest
- Northstar
- Journey To Ever-Eternal Skies
- Two Ravens Soaring
- Warwinds [Bonus]
- Under The Northern Fullmoon [Bonus]
- Eternal Forest [Bonus]
- Among Silent Pine [Bonus]
History
Dark Forest was created in late 2003 by David Parks. The vision of Dark Forest remains to create a style of atmospheric metal Fueled by nature and heathenism.
Parks began the initial writing process in late 2003 with the song titled Among Silent Pine. While not a metal song, but rather a nature styled soundtrack, it laid the groundwork for Dark Forest songs to come. The writing process continued from here until early 2005. A four track Demo was arranged and released that summer; this was titled Demo 2005. It received many positive reviews, and was hailed one of the most promising demos of that year.
Demo 2005 broke out into the local metal community that summer, and gained much respect and support. Parks continued the writing process to lay the groundwork for his first full-length album. During this same time, a live interest started to Appear. A live session line-up was assembled in September of 2005, only two months after The Release of Demo 2005. The initial line-up consisted of already established musicians in the Calgary area.
The live line-up played four promotional shows for Demo 2005 in the local area in 2006. With much success, interest also grew in Europe during this time. Media sources labeled Dark Forest Vinlandic Pagan Black Metal, but the members prefer to be labeled Canadian Heathen Metal. The month of March 2006 marked the completion of the writing process for Aurora Borealis. It was self-recorded by Parks in summer 2006, and released in September.
Surpassing the amount of support from Demo 2005, Aurora Borealis broke the band through into the pagan metal underground. Aurora Borealis got much attention for being a self-released full-length. Dark Forest was invited to play the Heathen Crusade II festival in the United States shortly after the release. Other performing acts included Bal-Sagoth, Vreid, Skyforger, Månegarm, and more. This marked the first out of Canada performance by the line-up.
In March 2007, Dark Forest signed with Bleak Art Records to re-issue Aurora Borealis, and to release the next full-length album. Parks currently continues the writing process for a new album, and has posted a new demo track online; titled 'Bjarni Herjólfsson ca. 985CE'. The writing process continues...
Additional Information
- Dark Forest is not a Viking Metal band, as often referred to as.
- David Parks and Mark Zemlak are cousins.
- Demo 2005 was limited to 150 copies. The first 80 copies were hand numbered.
- Aurora Borealis was originally released in September 2006, limited to 500 copies. This version utilised a drum machine. The official 2007 Bleak Art Records re-issue features Griffin Kissack on drums.
External links
pl:Dark Forest