My relationship with A Forest of Stars is a complicated one: they’re a band that I’ve always really *wanted* to like, because I like them on paper, but something about the vibe hasn’t ever been quite right any time I actually sit down to dig in.  Still, there is something compelling about their progressive and out-of-the-box style of black metal that keeps me circling at the periphery, a voice telling me to give it one more shot, and I think Stack Overflow in Corpse Pile Interface might be the thing that tips me over the edge of the iceberg and into true fandom.

A Forest of Stars are a self-described “British black metal” band, and while that might mean a lot of things to a lot of people, I think on Stack Overflow the heft of the meaning is carried much more in the “British” part of the moniker and much less in the “black metal” part.  You would not be able to mistake Stack Overflow for anything other than a heavy release, and a metal release at that, but Stack Overflow is much more of a celebration of British music in general than the kind of English black metal made popular by your Wynterfylleths and your Wodensthrones.  In fact, the influences on Stack Overflow range from Skyclad, My Dying Bride, Fen and Cradle of Filth to Bauhaus to Fairport Convention and even a little Genesis thrown in there.  Of course, lots of other bands have successfully managed to blend folk, prog rock, black metal and electronics together, but few do it with a creativity and intensity that A Forest of Stars do, and leading the way in the intensity department is the lyrical and vocal prowess of the mononymic Curse, whose “formal complaints” work just as much as spoken word poetry as they do the raw, howling rasps of black metal.  One of the things that has always kept me interested in A Forest of Stars even if the music bounced off me is the fact that the sheer intelligence of the members is fully on display, and this is readily apparent in the tongue-twisting and wordplay heavy lyrics on Stack Overflow.  Curse’s turns of phrase and impressive range of delivery mix well with the “neo-Dadaist” construction of the lyrics; one minute he’s spitting bars about being at war with processed food, the next he’s howling and shrieking about climate change, all with a ferocity and intensity that shakes me to my core and is truly unlike anyone else out there.

If the lyrics are the focal point of Stack Overflow, then their main supporting player is the exquisite violin work of one Queen of the Ghosts, whose presence is felt on every single track and whose haunting melodies and eerie ambience makes the melodrama of Curse’s vocals all the more grandiose.  She even gets in on the vocals as well, lending an elegant and refined compliment to Curse’s sardonic and gruff delivery.  Truly, the moments of subtle beauty on Stack Overflow are some of the most striking parts of the record; this is an album that tugs on your heartstrings as much as it tickles your brain, and the care and thought put in is obvious.  Plus, when A Forest of Stars decides to lean into the metal, it can get heavy enough to please even the most staunch purist.  Stack Overflow is an album that can really do it all, and they can do it in a way that is convincing and impressive at every level.  Each song feels like it has a life of its own, like a carefully crafted vignette where each part grows and twists into the next one in a seamless and satisfying way.

It’s been nearly eight years since the last full-length from A Forest of Stars, but if Stack Overflow in Corpse Pile Interface proves anything, it’s that this is a group that uses the time in between releases to put their best ideas out there.  Stack Overflow has officially turned me into a fan, and now I’m pretty excited to go back and listen to the rest of their discography through this lens.  If you’ve been holding out on British black metal, you owe it to yourself to give this a listen.  I have a feeling you’ll change your tune like I did.

— Ian

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Stack Overflow in Corpse Pile Interface is available now on Prophecy Productions.  For more information on A Forest of Stars, visit their Facebook page.