Becoming the Forest - #5


Traversing the subterranean passages of the caverns of black metal

Becoming the Forest is a serial publication about ecology and music edited by Úna Hamilton Helle and Lotte Brown. It is part of a long-running art project by Úna Hamilton Helle, inspired by how the dense spruce forests of Norway defined the aesthetic and philosophical outlook of the musical subculture of black metal. Ever since its inception, black metal has been intimately entangled with its surrounding topography, a relationship which forms the starting point for the publication’s approach. Interviews with bands are mixed in with essays and poems about a host of wide-ranging topics, such as music, myth, philosophy, biology, popular culture and history.
For this issue we delve into the depths of the subterranean, covering topics from old Norwegian stone customs to the underground topographies of Tabletop Roleplaying.

Contributors and bands:
Lotte Brown, Úna Hamilton Helle, Stu Horvath, Ild, Bekah Lunn, Menace Ruine, Mycologia, Oerheks, Panopticon, Peace Vaults, Returning, Tom Sewell, Andrew Walter, Wulvyr.
 
CONTENTS
EARTHBOUND ROCKS AND THUNDER STONES:
TALES FROM NORWEGIAN STONE CULTURE

Úna Hamilton Helle
Wherein glacial rocks and cupmarked stones are greeted and honoured as neighbours

INTERVIEW

Wulvyr (GB)
In which the Waste Walker digs into fertile soil to find that all life comes from the ground up
INTERVIEW

Menace Ruine (CA)
In which quiet cabin living reveals the true cacophony of nature’s rhythm

FIAT LUX!

Stu Horvath 
Wherein we descend to fantastical depths and probe the limits of darkness

INTERVIEW

Peace Vaults (AT)
In which an archer meets wild boars in the Viennese woods, almost as if in a dream

INTERVIEW

Oerheks (BE)
In which an old oak stands strong as the sole survivor of an ancient forest

BUILDING RELATIONS WITH A STONE:
POINTERS FOR AN ANIMIST ART PRACTICE

Úna Hamilton Helle 
Wherein a lithic encounter opens up a portal to the underworld

INTERVIEW

Mycologia (US)
In which a New Englander delves into the understorey on the hunt for fruiting bodies

A HARE RUNNING

Lotte Brown
Wherein the sky is upside down and some figures drowning in fleece try to follow the horizon.

INTERVIEW

Returning (US)
In which the porous bodies of salmon, herons and humans move amongst a numinous land filled with ancestral voices

INTERVIEW

Ild (NO)
In which a fire still burns amidst the death cloak of life

IMAGINARY STANDING STONES

Tom Sewell
Wherein the bones of the earth hover in the air

INTERVIEW

Panopticon (US)
In which freezing temperatures are endured in the fight for an inhabitable world