Although Cassus Belli Musica sent me this one as a promo, I also spotted Russian ABM project Skyforest's new EP, Harmony, on Bandcamp. Due to its description as "soft, peaceful, and dreamy" -- words I don't associate with metal much -- and its cover straight out of a Disney scene, with a pretty girl petting some forest animals, I gave it a pass at the time. But after listening to it this weekend, I must say that it's very good for what it is, although there isn't really any metal on it. Apparently Harmony is to be a bridge between 2016's Unity (to which I also listened, and perhaps may get a chance to review at a later time) and whatever's coming next. B.M., the founding member, starts his introductory note for this one by promising that he's not abandoning metal, so perhaps the next LP will be a metal album.

In the meantime, one can extract some enjoyment from Harmony, primarily that of B.M.'s excellent acoustic guitar work. The mixing engineer did a top-notch job on this one, so the mix of the soft guitar, soft keyboards, soft vocals, and, well, you get the idea...can be heard perfectly. B.M. does whispers and a few toned-down croaks, but that's as black metal as we're going to get here; all the singing is done by Michael Rumple (a fine, clear voice, if a little dreamy) on a few tracks, and by Arina Fox (forgettable Enya-style ahhs and sighs) on Harmony. It's pretty, fairly well-made, and relaxing, although it seems likely that a lot of metal fans will steer clear or bin it after listening.

Bandcamp: https://skyforest.bandcamp.com/album/harmony.