Finsterforst is a German folk metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, whose lyrical themes deal with nature, German myths, and fantasy worlds. Formed in 2004, the group has released three full-length studio albums, one extended play and one compilation album.

Finsterforst means "dark forest" and it is a reference to "Schwarzwald" ("black forest"), a wooded mountain range in the band's home state.Besides the usual line-up of instruments used in metal (electric guitars, bass, drums), the band's sound relies heavily on accordion melodies, with the occasional use of instruments, such as the tin whistle and the oboe. The band's genre is often dubbed pagan metal because of its use of harsh vocals.Cryptic Forest is a German black-metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg that is related to Finsterforst. Several band members play in both bands.

Formation and Wiege Der Finsternis (2004–2006)
The band was formed at the end of the year 2004 by Tobias Weinreich, Sebastian "AlleyJazz" Scherrer, Simon Schillinger and Marco Schomas. Because the line-up was not complete, the group decided to focus on songwriting.

Since the band felt it needed a real accordion-player, Johannes Joseph joined the line-up in the spring of 2005, followed by rhythm guitarist David Schuldis in October the same year.

In spite of missing a drummer, the band booked Iguana Studios in Buchheim, Baden-Württemberg, and, at the end of December 2005, three songs were recorded with the help of a drum machine. The songs were released as the Wiege der Finsternis EP in March 2006.

New drummer and Weltenkraft (2006–2008)
In October 2006, drummer Cornelius "Wombo" Heck joined the line-up, enabling the band to prepare for live shows.

In February and March 2007, the band re-entered Iguana Studios to record its début album, Weltenkraft, which was released in July through World Chaos Productions.

...zum Tode hin, new vocalist and Urwerk (2008–2011)
The band's second full-length album, ...zum Tode hin was recorded in July 2008 at Iguana Studios and was released through the German label Einheit Produktionen on 27 February 2009.

At the end of November 2009, the band announced the departure of Schomas, and that it was searching for a new singer, a position which was filled by Oliver Berlin in 2010.

In May 2010, the band released Urwerk, a two-disc re-release of its first EP (with a bonus track) and its début album.

Rastlos and record deal with Napalm Records (since 2012)
On 28 September 2012, it was confirmed that the band had signed a new record deal with the Austrian record label Napalm Records.[2] On 26 November 2012, the album Rastlos was released worldwide to positive reviews and it received various "album of the month" awards. For 2014, there's an announcement for a European Tour called "Trolls in the Forest bring Kaos over Europe", together with Trollfest and Cryptic Forest.[3]

Mach Dich Frei (since 2015)
In early 2015 Finsterforst released their new studio album Mach Dich Frei. Releasing on January 23 in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, January 30 in the rest of Europe and on February 10 in North America.[4]

Band members

Johannes Joseph and David Schuldis
Johannes Joseph – accordion, clean vocals, choir vocals (since 2005)
Oliver Berlin – vocals (since 2010)
Tobias Weinreich – bass guitar (since 2004)
Cornelius "Wombo" Heck – drums, choir vocals (since 2006)
Sebastian "AlleyJazz" Scherrer – keyboards (since 2004)
David Schuldis – rhythm guitars (since 2005)
Simon Schillinger – lead and rhythm guitars, acoustic guitars, choir vocals (since 2004)
Peter Hamm – live guitars (since 2008)
Former members
Marco Schomas – vocals, acoustic guitar (2004–2009)
Stephan Stahl – live rhythm guitars (2008)
Discography