Woebegone Obscured – The Forestroamer (So EPIC It Goddamn Hurts)
Just look at that goddamn sick cover. Man, I don’t know what in the world a forestroamer is, but I want to be one. I want to be one with the nature and the trees with moss dripping all from me. The artist, Artem Demura, aka Stargrave, was the perfect fit for Woebegone Obscured, who have convinced me Denmark must be pretty esoteric. For example, I just could not figure out that goddamn name. It’s like what does it even mean? Is it to sound verbose, like I just did, with a word meant to capture the truly depressing but really only depressing the reader because they don’t know what it means and hey, it’s a really sad thing to admit I had to look it up it myself. Goddamn it. So I guess they have the obscure part check and mate. Also, they have funeral doom done in less than 21 moves yes that’s another chess analogy this review is about me shaming myself.
I’m ashamed because my mind is weak. The Forestroamer might be too overwhelming for most listeners. It almost was for me. It’s not the power, it’s not the length, it’s the chasmatic breadth of Woebegone Obscured. Thought their name was too long and difficult to comprehend? Try this album. It’s not the dictionary of funeral doom, but the epic national poem of the genre with so goddamn much going on I lost track of where in the hell I was half of the time. So I listened again, and again, but even with repeat listens the variety will defeat you. There are so many different turns and paths they cover The Forestroamer lays its own groundwork and builds a city upon it. I’ve listened to it probably ten times at this point and I still can’t grasp it all, but it’s more of a fault of myself, not the album. I simply lack the stamina to consume this level of sublime. This is like a book that takes you a year to finish and then a PhD to truly understand. That’s going to turn some people away, but it’s doubtful Woebegone Obscured gives a goddamn crap.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Woebegone Obscured – The Forestroamer
Aesthetic Death
4.2 / 5
