Plains is the second release from Croatian/US/Dutch pagan black metal outfit Ophidian Forest. Pretty interesting fact about this band is that the three members have never physically met; Guitarist/bassist Zaragil lives in Croatia, drummer Otrebor lives in San Francisco, and vocalist/keyboardist/lyricist Amalgamoth is from the Netherlands. All three however met in the cyber world while writing for US metal webzine Maelstrom, and decided to put Ophidian Forest together, swapping music files over the internet, and a band was born.
On this new release, which comes in an attractive mini-DVD clamshell case, the band once again go for the juggular, with nine tracks of pulverizing, punishing black metal. If you like your black metal raw, savage, and nihilistic, you've come to the right place, as Plains will more than satisfy your extreme needs. Amalgamoth has the perfect vocal delivery for this stuff, as his demonic, frenzied wailings on tunes such as "The Heathen Revolution" and "The Eagel" go hand in hand with the relentless barrage of tremelo picked guitar riffs and jackhammer blast beats. Good to hear the band toss in some variety on the almost doomy "The Frozen Plains", as the band project a picture of icy cold, barren wastelands, complete with agonizing, almost tortured screams & rasps over mountains of keyboards, blasts, and textured guitar patterns. One of the strongest tracks is "Messiah of the Trees", a kick ass slice of black metal mayhem with some terrific riffs, and the closing epic "The Nightly Plains" is 13 minutes of atmospheric black metal, nightmarish sounds, and even some punk inspired metal for good measure.
