Carpathian Forest Albums (9)
'Morbid Fascination of Death'
Release Date 10/23/2007
Tracks 12
Label Peaceville
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods'
Release Date 3/21/2006
Tracks 5
Label Avantgarde
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Skjend Hans Lik'
Release Date 5/10/2005
Tracks 9
Label Season of Mist
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Defending the Throne of Evil'
Release Date 3/25/2003
Tracks 12
Label Season Of Mist
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
"Carpathian Forest must be destroyed!," screams the CD booklet for Defending the Throne of Evil -- proof that Norway's Carpathian Forest may not be taking themselves entirely seriously. Which has always been the band's charm, so to speak; like other black metal acts, the delivery is poker-faced and anti-Christian, guitars encrusted with grime, vocals shrieking like squirrels trapped in the garbage disposal, and double-bass tempos veering nearly out of control. While past Carpathian Forest albums have embraced a gritty, Motörhead-meets-Mayhem aesthetic, Defending is the first record where vocalist/guitarist/leader Nattefrost has had full control of the group's reins (longtime collaborator Nordavind quit during the recording of 2001's Morbid Fascination of Death album) -- and he has disappointingly steered the band through more typical and predictable black metal pastures, fleshing out the sound and arrangements with symphonic keyboards. Still, "Spill the Blood of the Lamb" is compellingly vicious, and the final three songs deviate from the maelstrom with some welcome weirdness -- "The Old House on the Hill" is a comical ditty consisting of a jaunty, carnival-inspired keyboard theme smothered with Nattefrost's evil-monster croaks; "Nekrophiliac/Anthropophagus Maniac" concludes down an unexpected two-track road lined with squawking saxophones; and "Cold Murderous Music" sounds like Portishead (!) fronted by a tracheotomy recipient, a fascinating and strange dichotomy (to say the least). However, too much of Defending, solid as it is, takes a conservative path, leaving Carpathian Forest's strong points -- experimental indulgences, tongue-in-cheek S&M lyrical excursions, and the stripped-down rock & roll glory of past albums -- in relatively short supply here. Unfortunately, most of Defending the Throne of Evil just falls in with the rest of the symphonic black metal pack. ~ John Serba, All Music Guide
'We're Going to Hell for This'
Release Date 10/29/2002
Tracks 18
Label Avantgarde Music
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Strange Old Brew couldn't be a more appropriate title for this bizarre hodgepodge of Scandinavian necro-weirdness. The first six tracks of Carpathian Forest's third full-length platter show a more traditional, rock-influenced take on the ugly Norwegian caterwauling of corpsepainted longhairs; "Mask of the Slave," "Thanatology," and"The Suicide Song" prove that even the frostiest of black metal can (almost) swing, in an endearingly messy way, simple riffs and basic arrangements mixing quite well with the tortured vocal croaks, violent S&M imagery, and horde-of-bees guitar sound that are more characteristic of the genre. But the second half of the record is another story, "House of the Whipcord" boasting whispered vocals accompanied by haunting piano (!) and saxophone (!) mewlings. "Cloak of Midnight" is a painfully slow, dirge-like slog through molten tar; "Return of the Freezing Winds" is pure, mid-tempo Celtic Frost worship (and possibly the album's best cut); "Theme From Nekromantikk" is a left-field, completely out of place piano-and-strings instrumental, and "He's Turning Blue," with its chanted chorus and sloppy power chords, is simply blackened Norwegian punk rock. The poker-faced posturing of main Carpathian collaborators R. Nattefrost and J. Nordavind and the cheap black-and-white cover art may point toward a typically harsh, vile black metal outing (shades of early Darkthrone), but Strange Old Brew's surprisingly filth-free production values and the band's kooky, obnoxious, and unrestrained songwriting make for an oddly enjoyable listen -- quite a compliment for an outfit that would most likely describe itself as "totally cult." ~ John Serba, All Music Guide
'Black Shining Leather'
Release Date 4/27/1999
Tracks 11
Label Avant Garde
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Bloodlust & Perversion'
Release Date 4/27/1999
Tracks 13
Label Avant Garde
See Album Tracklist and Review
