Artist: Forwyrd
Title: Forwyrd
Type: Album
Label: Dale Of Shadows / digital
This one was one of those albums that came in a bundle I purchased from Dale Of Shadows as a kind of punt. I had been attracted to said bundle by Gilgareth’s ‘Zwei Schwerter’ which exceeded my hopes in a wonderful way (see review ) and I had never heard of Forwyrd before (which means little. I am not a great repository of DS project knowledge sadly), apparently a project out of San Francisco so this kind of…hit me out of the blue. Originally released in December 2024 Dale Of Shadows gave it a physical release in April this year so, here we are.
‘Lighting The Pyres’ opens in a dark, understated manner. Distant thunder, slow synths in a dark atmospheric style as the weather turns and the pyres crackle with flame. A sombre sound that just opens up into the most beautiful epic horn sounds. It is at once majestic, mournful but also strangely rousing; it seems to bring in such history. The drum sounds slow and imperial, the percussion lending a strength to the feeling of history expanding around you. I am quite suddenly, quite beautifully in vast halls that, perhaps are past their glory but still hold their majesty and grace steady and with pride. There are moments of quiet, gentle music that recall perhaps a slow procession or a stately dance or simply the light glinting from gilded thrones and flickering lamps. And then the heart-stopping synths return and once more those small images, the mundane if royal trappings are set against history somehow. This place has witnessed such history and it will never bow down to defeat though it’s time may indeed have passed. It finds its strength once more, the tempo now a strong and proud stride forward towards perhaps one last great sunrise.
Sit atop a hill on a warm summer at dawn, watch the sun slow rise and shadows shrink away to the corners of the land as this plays. The land will speak to you.
‘Steelmaster’ has a more sylvanian sound. Birds in the woods chattering and trilling. There is a peace here. There is the precise, careful sound of the ringing of metal, the sense of a craft done slowly, precisely but with a magic to its art perhaps. It is a calming peace, curiously making me feel safe as surely no harm can come to you in the presence of such a skilled craftsman? The art of making, but with the pace and flow of nature as its guide as the final strikes bring a burst of natural magic to its shape.
‘Song Of The Mighty’ is dark but immediately radiates awe. The kettle drum sound and the chorus of pipes cloaked in synths. It whispers strength as only true strength can; no grandiose posturing, just the simple expression of what is. A sweet melody drifts through the air, again that sense of safety and of beauty rests lightly upon us. A touch of the military in the percussion but not strident or oppressive, simply gentle strength that protects not threatens. It parades before us, almost as though waiting for the command should it come but content in the beauty that it protects.
This album is just… just so moving. I have not felt this sense of world creation, such epic history and gentle majesty since I first heard Atlantean sword. Words fail me for a while after it finishes but, eventually I feel what it has left me. Beauty, history, a world of heroes but of gentle nature and the natural magic of a land.
This is just incredible. The maturity and surety, the atmosphere conjured from the melody and the arrangements is epic dungeon synth at its absolute finest. If I am not the last to this party, then I urge you to listen and buy. There is a gorgeous world here; yes there are shadows but if your heart is strong and true then you too can become another legend in it’s history…
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 