Black metal bands rarely put out singles that don’t support an upcoming album. let alone cover songs with featuring artists. Yet here we are: BEHEMOTH teamed up with SHINING (Sweden) singer, Niklas Kvarforth to give us this sublime rendition of THE CURE classic, “A Forest.”
I would be remiss in not pointing out that “A Forest” had already been quite famously covered by another black metal group, CARPATHIAN FOREST. One of the major differences between the two would be that Behemoth changed the arrangement more significantly. There’s also a notable difference in how they approached the vocals, which alone would justify this version’s existence. BEHEMOTH frontman Nergal and Swedish Kvarforth blend together as if they were one entity, as if they’d been joined together as some two-headed chimera. Fans of the original may have a hard time with their deliveries. In keeping with the song’s foreboding horror aesthetic, they opted to use mostly pained shrieks and deathly groans instead of more traditional growls, which is a stark contrast to THE CUER singer Robert Smith‘s almost spoken-word style clean vocals. For listeners who appreciate both Gothic rock and suicide black metal though, it’s pure ecstasy. “A Forest” paints an atmosphere of desperation and suffering. It obviously isn’t meant for dancing or parties, it’s simply an alternate take on a classic song, helmed by some of today’s most impressive artists in gloom.
BEHEMOTH singer Nergal‘s latest album release is his blues collaboration Me and That Man titled “New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol 1.,” out 27.03.2020.
Written by Vincent Parkkonen
Musicalypse, 2020
OV: 422
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Behemoth
Niklas Kvarforth
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