The unique and brilliant album

"Heart Of The Ages" (1995) by Into The Woods... the original digipack on Misanthropy Records.

Remember seeing this CD at one of my local record stores literally for ages I had listened to it there on maybe 3 occasions but it wasn’t until around 1997 that I finally bought it. Believe me this album is meant to be experienced at home on a stereo it's a much more suitable environment then in a record store. You already probably know this is a brilliant album and how different and unique it was especially at the time of its release in April 1995 from the other bands in the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Hard to describe the music because it has got so many different elements to it and I recommend to experience it for yourself rather then read this post. The band Into The Woods... started in 1991 with members from Green Carnation released their great demo “Isle Of Men” (1993) that’s more traditional Norwegian Black Metal it was rereleased on the CD “A Return To The Isle Of Men” (1996) by Hammerheart Records with 2 bonus tracks. The original 5 song 40 min long demo was later released on LP by the great Kyrck Productions in 2006.

If you like “Heart Of The Ages” I recommend the followup album “Omnio” (1997) and also the “Strange in Stereo” (1999) album. In 2000 the band decided to split up, they recorded what was supposed to be the final live performance in their hometown of Kristiansand on the 29th of December in 2000. They certainly put a lot of effort into it, 20 songs in a approx 2.5 hour show and it was released in 2003 as “Live at the Caledonien Hall” on CD.

However the band returned in 2014 but without their original guitarist Oddvar Moi (1974-2013) who had died in a cardiac arrest and in 2016 they released the “Pure” album. If you’re unfamiliar with the band I suggest you start with “Heart of the Ages” definitely a timeless excellent album that still 23 years after its release feels as relevant as it was in the 90’s, get lost into your mind (or the woods) while listening to this one.