Album Review: Deciduous Forest – Fields of Yore

Band: Deciduous Forest
Title: Fields of Yore
Label: Gutter Prince Cabal
Release date: June 23 2025
Country: Australia
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording

Album Review: Deciduous Forest – Fields of Yore via Gutter Prince Cabal by Michelle

It quite surprised me how little information I got from this band, because for sure as hell this is a way too underrated act from Australia. Preparing for the debut album to be released on the 23rd of this June, Deciduous Forest‘s sole member has done quite an amazing job at maintaining the role of each instrument present in this record.

The dark and gloomy atmosphere of this album is beautifully blended in with orchestral elements, creating a calming yet energetic ambience. Despite the presence of the violins being quite accentuated, I still find it hard to call Deciduous Forest melodic black metal, though this is obviously just my personal opinion. Either way, a guitar solo dominates the near of the first track’s end, blocking out the violins and focusing more on the raw aspects.

To be completely honest, I really quite enjoyed the way the second song starts, the guitar riff being the main feature before the orchestra takes the lead not long after. I must say, this track pretty much caught my attention from the very start given the fact that at some point it is the violins that are mostly heard. But leaving this aside, the vocals themself didn’t really amaze me, though I still admire the effort put into the pitchiness of them. I mean, let’s be honest, leading a musical project all by yourself isn’t exactly the easiest task if I must say.

‘Fields of Yore’ takes a much more calming approach, heavy riffs being quite absent at some points of the song. Though around the seventh minute everything progresses into a much more energetic tune, the guitar and drums returning to their previous state. ‘Ages Past’ is quite similar, both in sound and length.

The album ends with ‘Anemoia’, which once again feels way calmer than the first couple of songs, though at the same time it appears shorter than the previous two. I have to admit, I really did enjoy this album. The only thing I found quite boring were the excessively tranquil moments of some of the songs. Though obviously I did enjoy them, it felt as if they were a bit overused. Overall, this is a 9/10

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9/10  Epic Storm
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