Forlesen Releasing Type O Negative Cover “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” This Friday
Silent in terms of output since the release of their consuming second album Black Terrain (review here) late last year, now-Oregonian progressive post-black metallers Forlesen leave a mark on 2023 in seasonal form with the Type O Negative cover “Red Water (Christmas Mourning).” Originally on the seminal Brooklyn goth/doom metallers’ landmark 1996 LP, October Rust (discussed here), which fuck yes I listened to in high school, the track has been encased in obsidian and buried alive from the sound of the treatment Forlesen give it, but the stately plod of the original is intact within that. This isn’t the only heavy Xmas song out there this year by any means, but if you’re out shopping or some such and that Mariah Carey song comes on, at least you have something to clean the slate afterward.
The PR wire sent the release info. No word on a third Forlesen yet, which if I’m honest is kind of a relief since 2024 is already slammed with releases and the prospect of something that might be more realized than Black Terrain is intimidating. But hopefully they get there sooner or later, and some unexpected fun — yeah, fun — in the meantime is an invite to fans to dig further into the band’s influences. I also heartily approve of doom claiming Type O Negative in hindsight, just so you know.
Song is out Friday, which is in two days. You’ll make it. Here’s that info:
FORLESEN draws from dark ambient, epic doom, black metal and slowcore, to create a dynamic and experimental sound. The quartet are preparing to unveil their black metal cover of TYPE O NEGATIVE’s “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” on streaming platforms on December 15th.
Vocalist and guitarist Ascalaphus comments:
“TYPE O NEGATIVE were foundational for me, serving as my gateway into doom metal and remaining one of my favorite bands since. In a spirit of Saturnian revelry and sincere mournfulness, we offer this cover of the Drab Four’s grimmest of holiday songs, one that emphasizes the duality that made them such a special band – embers hardly alight after the evening’s celebration, a dark chill entering the room, a sense of both grandeur and nostalgia, along with a very sharp sense of loneliness and despair.
In our cover, then, we simply implemented that duality through the black metal prism. A lushness of melody and atmosphere that provides the backdrop to basically any and every TYPE O NEGATIVE song, cut to the core with the brute strength of raw, piercing, unfiltered emotion. In many ways this is TYPE O NEGATIVE’s bombast taken one step further, and their cruelty and hardship perhaps one step further than that.
TYPE O NEGATIVE did a lot of covers and always made it sound like themselves. There’s an irony to the fact that for a band who could make whatever they touched their own, so many other bands now try (and fail) to imitate them or are fairly literal in their interpretation. So paradoxically, I think the best way to honor what made a song of theirs special is to reinterpret it.
God Jul! Io Saturnalia! Ho ho ho…”
The track has premiered on the Machine Music digital compilation titled Milim Kashot Vol. 5, featuring alongside the likes of PANOPTICON, GNAW THEIR TONGUES and TRHA. All sales of the compilation go to For The Wildlife, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center.
About FORLESEN:
FORLESEN formed in San Francisco at the end of 2016 and released their debut, Hierophant Violent, in 2020. Comprised of two side-length tracks, it soon found a cult following. Now based in Portland, OR, FORLESEN’s compositional evolution continued with the release of Black Terrain in 2022, which saw the band expand into previously untapped musical realms.
FORLESEN is:
Ascalaphus (ex-BOTANIST) – Vocals, guitars, synth, harmonium, bass
Bezaelith (LOTUS THIEF) – Vocals, bass, guitars, synth
Petit Albert (LOTUS THIEF) – Guitars, synth, Hammond B3 organ, backing vocals
Maleus (ex-KAYO DOT, ex-MAUDLIN OF THE WELL) – Drums
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