I first spotted this album on my favorite music web site (which must go unnamed), where the band had it uploaded to the vanity house section. The quality of the vanity house albums vary, so I was skeptical to begin with, and then I saw that the album contained only two songs. Normally when one sees a full length album with only two songs, both over the fifteen minute mark, it is safe to assume that the album is a pretentious mess of unfiltered ideas. Thankfully, with Sea Of Trees Forest of Gallows, Deschain decided to prove me wrong, and introduced me to one of my favorite albums.

Sea Of Trees Forest of Gallows feels like a very personal, almost emotional atmospheric black metal album. One will quickly notice that it is quite melodic compared to most other black metal, which would rather bask in dissonance. The dual guitars here create melodies that enrich the songs with a vast atmosphere, without any aid from a keyboard. Some melodies are so heady that I found myself humming and whistling them to myself long after the album stopped. The vocals on the album are high and raspy, screeching at you as if they are a dying old man’s last words that must be heard. The drums fire away rapidly as if in a machine gun procession, only to die out and come back in as the slow pounding of a breakdown. The bass is audible during the slower parts of songs and does its part well.

Deschain reminds me of Agalloch and Wolves In The Throne Room, and their so called brand of hipster black metal. You should definitely listen to this album if you are a fan of these two bands.

The first song of the album is “Sea of Trees (Petrified as Shadows)”, and the second is “Forest of Gallows (Cast Down the Sun)”. Both can be listened to below: