Finsterforst

Finsterforst is a German folk metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, whose lyrical themes deal with nature, German myths, and fantasy worlds. Formed in 2004, the group has released three full-length studio albums, one extended play and one compilation album.

Finsterforst
Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2014
Background information
Origin	Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Genres	Folk metal, pagan metal, black metal, progressive metal, symphonic metal
Years active	2004-present
Labels	Napalm Records
Associated acts	Cryptic Forest
Website	finsterforst.de
Members	Johannes Joseph Oliver Berlin Tobias Weinreich Cornelius "Wombo" Heck Sebastian "AlleyJazz" Scherrer David Schuldis Simon Schillinger Peter Hamm (live)
Past members	Marco Schomas Stephan Stahl (live)

Finsterforst means "dark forest" and it is a reference to "Schwarzwald" ("black forest"), a wooded mountain range in the band's home state.

Besides the usual line-up of instruments used in metal (electric guitars, bass, drums), the band's sound relies heavily on accordion melodies, with the occasional use of instruments, such as the tin whistle and the oboe. The band's genre is often dubbed pagan metal because of its use of harsh vocals.

Cryptic Forest is a German black-metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg that is related to Finsterforst. Several band members play in both bands.[1]

History

Formation and Wiege Der Finsternis (2004–2006)

The band was formed at the end of the year 2004 by Tobias Weinreich, Sebastian "AlleyJazz" Scherrer, Simon Schillinger and Marco Schomas. Because the line-up was not complete, the group decided to focus on songwriting.

Since the band felt it needed a real accordion-player, Johannes Joseph joined the line-up in the spring of 2005, followed by rhythm guitarist David Schuldis in October the same year.

In spite of missing a drummer, the band booked Iguana Studios in Buchheim, Baden-Württemberg, and, at the end of December 2005, three songs were recorded with the help of a drum machine. The songs were released as the Wiege der Finsternis EP in March 2006.

New drummer and Weltenkraft (2006–2008)

In October 2006, drummer Cornelius "Wombo" Heck joined the line-up, enabling the band to prepare for live shows.

In February and March 2007, the band re-entered Iguana Studios to record its début album, Weltenkraft, which was released in July through World Chaos Productions.

...zum Tode hin, new vocalist and Urwerk (2008–2011)

The band's second full-length album, ...zum Tode hin was recorded in July 2008 at Iguana Studios and was released through the German label Einheit Produktionen on 27 February 2009.

At the end of November 2009, the band announced the departure of Schomas, and that it was searching for a new singer, a position which was filled by Oliver Berlin in 2010.

In May 2010, the band released Urwerk, a two-disc re-release of its first EP (with a bonus track) and its début album.

Rastlos and record deal with Napalm Records (since 2012)

On 28 September 2012, it was confirmed that the band had signed a new record deal with the Austrian record label Napalm Records.[2] On 26 November 2012, the album Rastlos was released worldwide to positive reviews and it received various "album of the month" awards. For 2014, there's an announcement for a European Tour called "Trolls in the Forest bring Kaos over Europe", together with Trollfest and Cryptic Forest.[3]

Mach Dich Frei (since 2015)

In early 2015 Finsterforst released their new studio album Mach Dich Frei. Releasing on January 23 in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, January 30 in the rest of Europe and on February 10 in North America.[4]

Band members

Johannes Joseph and David Schuldis

• Johannes Joseph – accordion, clean vocals, choir vocals (since 2005)
• Oliver Berlin – vocals (since 2010)
• Tobias Weinreich – bass guitar (since 2004)
• Cornelius "Wombo" Heck – drums, choir vocals (since 2006)
• Sebastian "AlleyJazz" Scherrer – keyboards (since 2004)
• David Schuldis – rhythm guitars (since 2005)
• Simon Schillinger – lead and rhythm guitars, acoustic guitars, choir vocals (since 2004)

• Peter Hamm – live guitars (since 2008)

Former members

• Marco Schomas – vocals, acoustic guitar (2004–2009)
• Stephan Stahl – live rhythm guitars (2008)

Discography

EPs

• Wiege der Finsternis (2005)
• #YØLØ (2016)[5]

#YØLØ track listing

No.	Title	Translation	Length
1.	"Bottle Gods"		3:56
2.	"Auf die Zwölf"	On the Twelve	3:57
3.	"#YØLØ"		4:38
4.	"Hangover"		5:19
5.	"Wrecking Ball" (Miley Cyrus cover)		3:30
6.	"Beat It" (Michael Jackson cover)		4:37
7.	"Der durch die Scheibeboxxxer"		3:41
8.	"Flasche leer"	Empty Bottle	1:30
9.	"Das schlimmste ist, wenn das Bier alle ist"	The Worst Thing Is, When the Beer Is Gone	3:40
10.	"The Wild Rover"		5:35
Total length:			40:23

Studio albums

• Weltenkraft (2007)

Weltenkraft track listing

No.	Title	Translation	Length
1.	"Des Waldes Macht"	Power of the Forest	5:30
2.	"Die Suche nach dem Licht"	The Search for the Light	6:21
3.	"Lauf der Welt"	The Way of the World	8:10
4.	"Traumwald"	Dream Woods	5:17
5.	"Spiegelscherben"	Mirror Shards	10:19
6.	"Von glorreichem Schmerz"	Of Glorious Pain	7:13
7.	"Rauschende Nächte"	Rushing Night	2:29
8.	"Weinende Ruinen"	Weeping Ruins	8:21
9.	"Weltenpilger"	World Pilgrims	9:42
10.	"Verlorene Seelen"	Lost Souls	13:31
Total length:			76:53

• ...zum Tode hin (2009)

...zum Tode hin track listing

No.	Title	Translation	Length
1.	"Urquell"	Fountainhead	11:45
2.	"Das große Erwachen"	The Great Awakening	12:14
3.	"Seines Glückes Schmied"	His Lucky Blacksmith	11:24
4.	"Sturmes Ernte"	Harvest of the Storm	13:36
5.	"Untergang"	Downfall	21:37
Total length:			70:36

• Rastlos (2012)

Rastlos track listing

No.	Title	Translation	Length
1.	"Nichts als Asche"	Nothing but Ash	13:19
2.	"Fremd"	Foreign/Strange	12:21
3.	"Am Scheideweg"	At a Crossroad	1:28
4.	"Stirbt zuletzt"	Die at Last	10:19
5.	"Ein Lichtschein"	A Flare	13:40
6.	"Rast"	Rest	1:59
7.	"Flammenrausch"	Inebriation of Flames	22:10
Total length:			75:16

• Mach Dich Frei (2015)

Mach Dich Frei track listing

No.	Title	Translation	Length
1.	"Abfahrt"	Departure	0:58
2.	"Schicksals End'"	Fate's End	14:48
3.	"Zeit für Hass"	Time for Hatred	9:43
4.	"Im Auge des Sturms"	In the Eye of the Storm	1:38
5.	"Mach dich frei!"	Set Yourself Free	7:49
6.	"Mann gegen Mensch"	Man vs. Mankind	9:32
7.	"Reize zum..."	Journey to the...	5:32
8.	"Finsterforst"	Dark Forest	23:53
Total length:			73:53

Compilation albums

• Urwerk (2010)

Cryptic Forest

Cryptic Forest history (2003-2014)

In the beginning, in 2003, the band was only a one-man project by composer Simon Schillinger. A couple of songs came to life, but the project was later put "on ice" because Schillinger's writing focus was resting on his other band Finsterforst at the time.[6] Although Cryptic Forest was officially not active, from time to time he wrote some music unrelated to Finsterforst and shared it with a couple of his friends, who should later encourage him to found a band and to record a short EP. The EP called Dawn of the eclipse was released in 2011, which can be seen as the band's official founding. In August 2013, the debut album Ystyr was released on the German label Einheit Produktionen and a European Tour together with Trollfest and Finsterforst was announced for 2014.[3]

Cryptic Forest Discography

• Dawn of the eclipse (2011; extended play)
• Ystyr (2013)

Concert Tours

Tours

Date	Country/Region	City	Venue	Guest
Zerfall China Tour 2019
14 November 2019	China	Beijing	Mao Live House Beijing	Frozen Moon
15 November 2019		Nanjing	Ola Art Space	None
16 November 2019		Shanghai	YYT Live House
17 November 2019		Hangzhou	Mao Live House Hangzhou
18 November 2019		Suzhou	Hill House
20 November 2019		Shenzhen	B10 Live
21 November 2019		Guangzhou	Tu Space
23 November 2019		xi'an	Aperture Club

See also

• List of folk-metal bands
• List of Napalm Records artists
• Music of Germany

References

1. "Interview with Cryptic Forest on metalsoundscapes.com"
2. Staff (28 September 2012). "Finsterforst signs with Napalm Records". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
3. "Finsterforst to tour with Trollfest and Cryptic Forest"
4. "Mach Dich Frei" with Finsterforst
5. https://finsterforst.bandcamp.com/album/y-l
6. "Interview with Simon Schillinger on Metal-temple.com"

• Database (undated). "Finterforst". Encyclopedia Metallum. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• Database (undated). "Finterforst". Metal Storm. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• Staff (undated). "Finterforst – Rastlos". metalreviews.com. Retrieved 7 February 2012.

External links

• finsterforst.de, the band's official website
• Finsterforst at AllMusic