Review by Sonny for Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows (2007)

Walknut were the brainchild of Anton Svyagir (aka StringsSkald) who is a Russian multi-instrumentalist that has been a member of a number of bands including stoner doom outfit Old Sea and Mother Serpent. Inexplicably, Graveforests and Their Shadows is Walknut's only release and as the status of the band seems to be "defunct" it is likely to remain so. I say "inexplicably" because, as an example of atmospheric black metal, this is just so fucking good!
Graveforests.. is a black metal album that heavily relies on it's recreation of an icy and frigid atmosphere. Here that atmosphere is everything as there is actually very little else going on - and I don't say this as a criticism - but the songs are fairly simple affairs that rely on repetition and the layering of the raw, distorted guitar sound to create the required effect. For me the simplicity of the songs isn't a failing, but is actually the album's strength, allowing the atmosphere to become key. Where others feel the need to inject their songs with arbitrary tempo changes, sudden folk-driven interludes or shoegazey ambient breaks, Walknut hold their nerve and just allow the frigidity of the tracks to envelop and ensnare the listener like a winter blizzard. StringsSkald's vocals take the form of ragged shrieks in a similar vein to many DSBM vocalists, but here they pierce the frostiness of the music with a yet colder desperation that deepens the intensity of the frozen atmosphere. Walknut's is a world of black and white and a numbing iciness that is almost unbearable to a mere fragile human, similar to the musical world of Paysage d'Hiver, and is not one that should be entered into lightly. Personally, I love this stripped down style of atmo-black which can trace it's roots back to some of the earliest Burzum recordings and Graveforests and Their Shadows is an album of particular quality in this frostiest of sub-genres.