Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Perhaps not since the early days of the British band Sabbat, has an album left such an indelible mark on the conscious of the fan of the genre such as the 2012 release of A Shadowplay for Yesterdays by the quite sublime A Forest Of Stars.

The unnerving heartbeat, slow, methodical and direct, is at times more frightening than the racing pulse of a heart out of control. It doesn’t just signify a calmness of spirit, it can also be a measure of manipulation, of a domination of mind over emotion and in that the quietness of breathing in the dark can induce a clammy sensation on the skin to rise and the hackles ready to sharpen at what might come next.

In A Shadowplay for Yesterdays, what comes bounding towards the listener is something across between an ethereal delight and unearthly, almost alien in origin, substantial terror, the lyrics of a man who, had he been born a 100 years earlier may have been labelled radical, dangerous and a tremendous adversary for Bram Stoker to pit wits against. This though is no lyricist for whom a mere clove of garlic could ever hope to take on and reduce to the ash the poet’s soul, for Curse’s vocals place chills down the spine whilst relishing in the odd feeling of listening to a sound so tangible, so forgiving that its mournful but positive cry is one to savour.

A Shadowplay for Yesterdays is exactly that, the outline, the unseen spectre in the dark who can only be seen by the very willing, the silhouette of participation and if the host is unwilling to play then there will be many more who openly stand up to the piece of theatre that ensues.

Tracks such as A Prophet for a Pound of Flesh, The Blight of God’s Acre, the astonishing Gatherer of the Pure and Corvus Corona (parts one and two) are tantalising, and no matter the taste, extremely accessible to all, it just takes a dip into the imagination, to stand steadfast and resolute in the face of the consuming and awesome fire that comes the listener’s way to know that this is music as theatre at its best. In the same way that Sabbat, especially around the time of the album Dreamweaver, managed to capture a story with passion, so to do A Forest Of Stars.

Eloquent, consuming and just that little bit terrifying, A Shadowplay for Yesterdays has so much to offer and delivers on so many counts.

Ian D. Hall