Mondo Bungle

I'm coming straight from the underground with some band action

In the Woods were a black metal band from Norway formed in the early 90s. Everyone knows how that goes, right? Nah.

The first album they released was the immaculate Heart of the Ages in 1995. It's a borderline perfect execution of trademark black metal formula while still stretching beyond that with folk and ambient stuff and a good amount of clean, operatic vocals.

Then their opus Omnio came out and changed the game. A masterpiece of avant-garde metal, sounding like an amalgamation of the ultra sick and ultra black metal riffs of the debut, a majority of clean vocals both male and female, a plethora of different instruments, a magical sort of ambiance, and a new and experimental way of smashing it all together. A really great work, their best, and recommended for avant-garde metal seekers. Not any outrageous fusions and stuff like that, just a generally obscure approach to metal music. The guitar tone is among the best I've heard in all of the metal world, making the already kick ass riffs melt into place in such a very pleasing way.

Strange in Stereo in 1999 would be their last studio album before disbanding. Their most bizarre and least metal attached, but a very great offering of experimental music from metal and non-metal spectrums alike. A very glum and depressing sound is apparent.

A truly remarkable live album was recorded during their final show, and it is as amazing as it is soul crushing. A breathtaking performance by one of the finest metal acts at the time, with a discography cut short and legacy left relatively obscure. A very emotional album. A massive farewell, a 3 hour set of basically all their songs.

However, In the Woods have since reunited with a new vocalist to release the album Pure this year. Most closely similar to Omnio and it's prog/experimental doom stuff. It's another great release most definitely, but the original era of the band will remain unmatched.

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