Within the Ancient Forest is the second album by Paramaecium

Paramaecium

Paramaecium was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian concepts...

. It was released in 1996. Within the Ancient Forest is also a novel written by Paramaecium's lead singer, Andrew Tompkins. The album was based on this novel.

Concept

This concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 is based on the fictional story of Within the Ancient Forest written by Andrew Tompkins, the story revolves around the main character Dé-nyl (Denial) and his quest for the sword of legend, the Garensword which holds the power to restore life to the dead. The Firetree burns bright in the distance, but there are many perils for Dé-nyl to overcome before reaching the final object of his quest: the meaning of life and the final secret of immortality.

Track listing

1. "In Exordium" – 4:40
2. "Song of the Ancient" – 6:58
3. "I Am Not Alive" – 9:15
4. "The Grave, My Soul" – 9:02
5. "Gone Is My Former Resolve" – 8:33
6. "Of My Darkest Hour" – 7:38
7. "Darkness Dies" – 8:47

Personnel

• Andrew Tompkins
  Andrew Tompkins
  Andrew Tompkins is the lead vocalist and bassist for the Australian doom metal band Paramaecium, which was considered to be the biggest Christian doom metal band.Andrew has a daughter named Enara....
  
   - vocals & bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , compositions of cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
   & harpsichord
  Harpsichord
  A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
  
   sections
• Jayson Sherlock
  Jayson Sherlock
  Jayson Sherlock was the drummer for the Australian death metal band Mortification, which was considered to be a major pioneer in the genre.Sherlock was the founder of the one-man project Unblack metal band Horde, in which he played every instrument...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Jason De Ron
  Jason De Ron
  Jason De Ron is a musician from Melbourne, Australia, most notable for being the former guitarist for the death/doom band Paramaecium and co founder and guitarist of the avant garde/progressive metal band Altera Enigma.-Biography:...
  
   - guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Chris Burton - guitar

External links

• Read chapter 8 of Within the Ancient Forest .pdf
• Within the Ancient Forest at Metal-Archives