Country of origin:United States
Location:California
Status:Active

Formed in:2005
Genre:Atmospheric Black Metal
Lyrical themes:Fantasy, Tolkien, Nature
Current label:Unsigned/independent
Years active:2005-present
Mirkwood is a vast forest in the fantasy-world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Compilation appearance(s):
- "The Broken Blade" on Obscure Synergy Chapter I
- "The Rotting Horse on the Deadly Ground" on In Mordor Where the Shadows Are - Homage to Summoning (2016)

DISCOGRAPHY

Journey's End Demo 2006
Cynestole / Mirkwood Split 2007
Winter Forest Demo 2008
Mountains and Lakes Demo 2013
Heralder Collaboration 2015
Mirkwood Compilation 2015
The Chronicles Boxed set 2016
Stillstand Split 2017
Todesstille EP 2018

current line up

A.K. Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Drum Programming (2005-present)
See also: Nightsky (USA)

REVIEWS

Hm.... - 100%
BlackMetal213, April 24th, 2012

Mirkwood...named after the dark forest in Tolkien's Middle Earth. This band is a symphonic/atmospheric black metal band from California. They have three recordings released, including a quite amazing split with black metal band Cynestole from Canada. However, this review is not of that recording. This is of the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING demo entitled "Journey's End". Ironically, this is only the beginning for this fascinating band.

This demo was released in 2006 and is the very first demo released by this band after their inception in 2005. Now, the title for this demo may not be completely relevant considering this is only their first demo, and oh fuck, as I have previously stated, is it amazing. The music is full of great orchestrations and catchy riffs and keyboard passages and it is done by only two individuals. This is almost as huge-sounding as Emperor's classic full-length studio album "In The Nightside Eclipse", and this is only a demo! The atmosphere feels as if the listener is on the top of a misty cold mountain while it is snowing, and wind is blowing in all directions. The drums are programmed in a way that they do not sound immensely fake, but they do not sound like real drums, either. This is not a flaw. Not even in the slightest. Why? Simply because while they don't sound exactly real, they don't sound like obviously fake drums (*cough Xasthur cough*). They are not loud in the mix either, which makes more room for the AMAZING guitar melodies, solos, and the major use of keys.

The title track, just shy of 5 minutes, is the demo's shortest track. It is actually the only track on the whole demo with vocals. The vocals last from about 1:45 to 2:10 for the first verse, from around 3:00 to 3:45 for the second, and from around 4:35 to the end of the track for the third (and shortest) verse. So, on the whole demo there are only like 95 seconds of vocals, making the demo mostly instrumental, which is actually okay. The vocals on the track sound somewhat like those of Summoning in a way. Actually, the listener (if familiar with Summoning) can automatically site Summoning as an influence, seeing as the band is based on Tolkien themes and the music has a very epic, atmospheric, and huge sound. This track is absolutely beautiful. The next track, "Winter Path", begins with a beautiful keyboard part and a synth flute. Then just shy of the minute mark come the chugging guitar riffs. These riffs are used a lot in this track. The keys are actually, in my opinion, played at their best on this track out of the other two, and wow, that tremolo riff beginning at 1:55 is absolutely beautiful. One of the highlights. This song is just slightly over 7 minutes long, making it the second longest track on the album (the tracks increase in length as they go). Out of the three tracks on this demo, this has to be my favorite, and it is entirely instrumental, giving much more room to the amazing instrumentals. That solo beginning just after 3:50 is an absolute guarantee for an eargasm and soon after, at 4:22, comes that epic tremolo riff again.

Finally, the third track. This is the longest piece on the demo, clocking in at around 11 and a half minutes. It is also instrumental. It begins with blast beating drums and great tremolo riffs. This pattern repeats itself until 0:45, when the track breaks into a synth and drum passage, and at around 1:07 a VERY ultra-catchy riff comes into play. And wow, does it bring with it an amazing listening experience. Nothing too technical about this track, and it is somewhat repetitive. There's nothing wrong with it though. That keyboard melody beginning at 3 minutes in is astounding.

This is truly (in my VERY HONEST OPINION) the greatest black metal demo I have yet to hear, and I have heard my fair share of black metal demos. None of them caught my attention quite like this one did. At round 23 and a half minutes long, this will make any half hour a positive experience. It is just that brilliant. In fact, I don't think I can find anything wrong with this wonderfully-crafted piece of art, so I give this demo a 100. I rarely would even think to do this, but an exception must be made for this.

A Promising Vision - 87%
WinterBliss, February 18th, 2008

Mirkwood are a symphonic black metal duo out of California. The music is very melodic and catchy; these traits come from both the keyboards and the guitars. There is also a strong atmosphere created by this music, a sombre, natural atmosphere; quite similar to Alcest's Le Secret .

The music itself is structured very well and is diverse. The first track contains numerous melodies and is a very attention grabbing song, where as the second track is more simplistic and develops a main melody and builds off that. I appreciate such differences in a small release. The beginning to "Journey's End" is an impressive start, and something that sucked me in the second I heard it. Along with that, the keyboard part that starts at 6:45 in "Through Endless Forests" is among one of the catchiest things I've ever heard, it makes me wonder if it was taken from some pop song, especially the part at 7:37.

The musicianship is solid on this album. The guitarist picks out catchy and interesting riffs throughout the demo, along with those riffs he even throws in a nice solo or two. Of course there is your typical tremolo picking, but there are other nice parts which sound a bit more complex(forgive me, i don't know guitar too well). The keyboardist is also at the top of their game, jumping from simple synth passages to intricate melodies. What I like most is that the melodies are shared between the two instruments, rather then one more than the other.

I was pleasantly surprised by this demo, seeing that symphonic stuff isn't my cup of tea, but i found this to be very enjoyable. There are downfalls though of course. The largest one are the programmed drums. While the drums are programmed very well (intricate rhythms, nice fills, etc etc) they sound so obviously fake that they really take away from the demo as a whole. Along with the fake drums, some of the keyboard sections sound too cheesy and add a Disney element that really should not be there.

Overall I find this demo to be very enjoyable and hope to hear more from this band.

BBM split manages to rule and not suck! - 84%
caspian, August 1st, 2010
I downloaded this due to thinking that perhaps the Mirkwood on this was the Summoning dude- or alternatively a band that wants sex with Summoning dudes. Don't we all! Anyway, upon finding out that it was two random-ass one man bands from amurka and canadia expectations instantly fell. Perhaps it's just that I was expecting something really fecal, but count me as really surprised! This isn't bad and is, unbelievably, actually quite good.

The enigmatically named "Cynestole" starts things up with unashamed Burzum ripping off; the trebly as hell guitar tone, the minimalist probably-a-drum-machine (well programmed but), very burzum-esque and far closer to the real thing than stuff like Drudkh and so on; at least until one of the very nicely layered clean segments comes on. It's a pretty simple combination- Filosofem loving riff, bit of a clean section, then another riff coming in, often with the clean malarchy coming in over the top. I'm aware that this doesn't sound terribly good, but it works surprisingly well!

I think the thing that seperates Cynestole from a million other really crappy one man bands that love Varg is that there is a shitton of care put into the compositions- and the recording of said compositions. The songs ebb and flow in a way that keeps you entertained, and while there is heaps of clipping and stuff unlike most BBM bands, stuff is on time, well layered, in tune etc etc. This isn't a good thing, of course ("not sucking" is hardly reason to recommend a band), but it's another reason why this band surpassed (low) expectations. All in all, Cynestole deliver with a brilliant and surprisingly listenable mix of Burzum worship and vaguely Alcest-ish clean meanderings.

Mirkwood's style also shouldn't really work (I really loathe symphonic black) but it achieves it's goal- a nicely atmospheric few songs that I can put on when I play some JRPGs. I can't but feel, especially with certain synth parts in "The Broken Blade", that this dude really does love Final Fantasy and stuff, definitely comes through with his sorta happy and really fruity synth sections. He's no slouch though; and for the most part (let's pretend the intro to his side doesn't exist) he does a decent job programming the synths.

It's dynamic, vaguely inspiring in a +120 sword-doing-critical-hit type way, and rather cool. I like the guitar usage here- it's hardly the centrepiece but the tremelo picked guitars always sound good, always fit well, and in some cases really lift the songs to new heights; they really give the whole thing a nice soaring quality. If there's one criticism it's that the drums suck heaps; occaisonally out of time and always with crap tone; I wish the dude had live drums because that would be freakin' awesome.

Anywho, this split is actually rather nice, not what I expected at all. Cynestole do a competent and very enjoyable take on Burzum, and Mirkwood's mix of JRPG soundtracks and fruity symphoblack works brilliantly as well. Well worth getting!

Overdone, But Still Showing Promise - 79%
Khull, May 20th, 2009
Mirkwood is a two-person atmospheric / symphonic black metal project hailing from California. Their first demo, Journey's End, featured some decent enough music, especially for a first demo. Since then they haven't exactly been productive – I was really hoping for a full length or EP by now, but oh well.

Unlike their earlier demo, Winter Forest is primarily more instrumental, focusing exclusively on keyboards weaving a captivating, ambient soundscape, forsaking drums and guitars for all but a couple songs. For the few who have heard Journey's End and were able to experience AK's voice, it might disappoint you to know his vocals aren't present anywhere on this album save Dreams of Night. Similarly, if you also loved the guitar riffs and their somewhat unique distorted sound, they are also absent on all but the last minute of Ich Sterbe and Dreams of Night.

There isn't a whole got going on in this 18 minute long demo. If anything, it shows the competence of Mirkwood in composing good music, but there's not many hooks or gimmicks here to satisfy just any listener. At this point, too many albums have done what Winter Forest does, and they've done it better. Songs like Dreams of Night and Ich Sterbe bring us back to the goodness that was Journey's End, but I honestly can't praise this demo like I would their earlier. It's solid, but that's it. Pick it up if you can find it; the music certainly isn't bad.