Becoming the Forest Issue V
Traversing the subterranean passages of the caverns of black metal
Becoming the Forest as a project interrogates the entangled relationship we humans have with our surroundings, inspired by the ecological strands of black metal, and for this issue we have truly gone underground, both in a musical and topographical sense.
BTF V has essays on animist Norwegian stone customs, the dark topographies of Table Top Roleplaying, a long form poem about the endless horizons of the Northern hemisphere and eight interviews with musicians and bands who have emerged from the fertile humus of contemporary black metal.
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.
Edited by Úna Hamilton Helle and Lotte Brown
Published by Het Bos Antwerpen
Designed by Tom Sewell
Supported by the Norwegian Arts Council & ERC
148 pages
210x135mm
printed in black & white, some colour
£17
ISBN 9789082988031
Publication date: 8 August 2025
Table of Contents
Earthbound Rocks and Thunder Stones: Tales from Norwegian Stone Culture
By Úna Hamilton Helle
Wherein glacial rocks and cup marked 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!
By 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
By 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
By 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
Drawings by 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