Finsterforst is a Germanfolk 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 means "dark forest" and it is a reference to "Schwarzwald", a wooded mountain range in the band's home state. Besides the usual line-up of instruments used in metal, 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.
History
Formation and ''Wiege Der Finsternis'' (2004–2006)
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 and its début album.
On 28 September 2012, it was confirmed that the band had signed a new record deal with the Austrian record label Napalm Records. On 26 November 2012, the albumRastlos 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.
''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.
Band members
Johannes Josephaccordion, clean vocals, choir vocals
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. 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 albumYstyr was released on the German label Einheit Produktionen and a European Tour together with Trollfest and Finsterforst was announced for 2014.
