Origin: Russia
Location: N/A
Formed: 2008
Status: Active
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Label: War Against Yourself Records
Themes: Not officially listed
Years active: 2008–present
Colorless Forest is a Russian ambient black metal project active since 2008, known for its cold, dreamlike atmospheres and its ability to merge raw black metal elements with deeply immersive ambient soundscapes. The project’s music is built around long, drifting compositions that evoke isolation, memory, and the vastness of nature. Its aesthetic leans heavily toward the ethereal and introspective, often blurring the line between ambient minimalism and atmospheric black metal intensity.
The early years of Colorless Forest were marked by several unreleased recordings—Woods of Stolen Souls (2008), Stellar Shiver and Scars (2009), and Rivers of Shining Dust (2010)—which helped shape the project’s sonic identity. These formative works established the project’s signature palette: icy keyboards, distant screams, hypnotic tremolo riffs, and a pervasive sense of melancholy.
The first official full‑length, Imprints of Dreams in Hyaline Ice (2011), introduced Colorless Forest to a wider underground audience. The album was praised for its glacial atmosphere and its ability to evoke dreamlike, frozen landscapes. Its blend of ambient textures and raw black metal elements positioned the project within the emerging wave of Russian ambient black metal acts that favored mood and immersion over aggression.
Those Who Come with the Rain (2013) expanded the project’s emotional and atmospheric range, incorporating more dynamic shifts and a deeper sense of narrative flow. The album’s melancholic melodies and rain‑soaked ambience resonated strongly with listeners drawn to introspective black metal.
In 2014, the compilation Memories of the Stolen Souls and Dust gathered early material, offering a retrospective look at the project’s evolution. This release highlighted the consistency of Colorless Forest’s vision: a world of fading memories, cold landscapes, and quiet sorrow.
The full‑length White Abysmal Tomb (2015) marked a culmination of the project’s atmospheric ambitions. With its dense layers of keyboards, mournful guitar lines, and cavernous production, the album created a vast, desolate soundscape that many listeners consider the project’s most fully realized work. Its release through War Against Yourself Records helped solidify Colorless Forest’s reputation within the international atmospheric and ambient black metal underground.
Despite maintaining a low public profile, the project continues to be appreciated for its emotional depth, its immersive sound design, and its commitment to the colder, more introspective side of black metal.
Current lineup
Past members
Unreleased
Official releases