Review
Returning after an eight-year hiatus, Leeds collective A Forest of Stars swap the typical, icy hallmarks of Nordic black metal for a theatrical, Victorian-tinted decay. Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface leans heavily into progressive, long-form structures where classical violins and mechanical dread collide.
Critics note that the album operates as both a celebration and a nervous breakdown, weaving "a pessimistic, internal and panoramic view of physical, mental, and world decay." Vocalist Curse delivers desperate lyrical screeds alongside Queen of the Ghosts' weeping violin, crafting a theatricality that makes the album feel "much more of a celebration of British music in general" than a standard extreme metal release.
While some writers find the mammoth length bloated and struggle with an "iterative effort" that fails to blaze new trails, others find transcendence in its "hellish dance of wicked tumult and folkish ambience". It remains a dense, challenging monument to algorithmic anxiety.
