Hailing from Seattle, Washington, USA, the Black Metal quintet FOREST OF GREY formed in the early 2000's. Following a Demo release in 2006, their debut here was 10 years in the making. The album contains just two tracks, with two unpretentious titles as simply "I" and "II." Each track is about fifteen minutes long.

"I" opens with solitary clean guitar notes that ring out like warning bells. Bass and drums slowly enter the picture, and the main riff continues, distorted. At about the halfway mark, we hear Black Metal vocals, though they sound like they are a bit off in the distance. It's a doleful song at this point, melancholy and mournful. Near the ten minute mark it slows to a grind, pushing a dejected sound. The guitars lament heavily for a moment and then it runs chaotically to completion, in a flurry of guitar, bass and drums, capped with high vocal shrieks.

"II" opens in much the same way, with ominous clean guitar notes that sound like the soft singing of a bird who has hung around too long in the fall, as the leaves have fallen and the cold breeze of winter is in the air. At just past the two minute mark, the wall of sound kicks in hard. The guitars bring some discord to the table while the vocals wail with rage. It settles into a groove for a spell with the bass guitar leading some of the sound. Towards the nine minute mark it slows to a sad and depressing scene, like a widow weeping over the headstone of her lost love. Despair is high in the fold, but anger lurks in the background. As it fades to completion, you can feel a complete sense of loss.

It was somewhat difficult to get a complete picture of an album with just two tracks. Though they were both lengthy, they had some similarity in structure, and some of the connections from passage to passage seemed a bit lost at times. I did however enjoy the overall sound, and the way that they pushed a bereaved and dismal sound much of the time. I have always maintained that the darkness can be a beautiful place. I recommend that you Black Metal fans give this a listen.