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FORSETI

Prog Folk • Germany


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Forseti biography
Forseti was a neo folk project by Andreas Ritter surrounded by hired musicians. Formed in 1997, they released 1 EP and 2 LPs that followed his vision for acoustic and environmentally aware music, its themes expressing disillusionment with the modern world. While FORSETI was stylistically allied to DEATH IN JUNE, FIRE AND ICE and other dark folk, there is also a resemblance to OUGENWEIDE and to singer songwriter folk. In 2005 Ritter is reported to have suffered a heart attack resulting in brain damage. It is hard to find any information about him since then.

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FORSETI discography


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FORSETI top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.32 | 6 ratings
Windzeit
2002
3.12 | 6 ratings
Erde
2004

FORSETI Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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FORSETI Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 2 ratings
Jenzig
1999

FORSETI Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Erde by FORSETI album cover Studio Album, 2004
3.12 | 6 ratings

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Erde
Forseti Prog Folk

Review by kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team

3 stars FORSETI's second and final full length album sacrifices none of the acoustic melancholy of their debut, but here they actually sound ALIVE. The melodies are far more engaging and the martial rhythms seethe and churn beneath a deceptively pastoral veneer. The change is apparent from the introduction of the strings in the caressing "Korn" through to what sounds like a mellotron choir in"Das Abendland"

Perhaps the most appealingly proggy cut is "Empfindsamkeit", which is more than a little reminiscent of PERERIN once again, with a hypnotic guitar figure, somber vocals, including some harmony, and delicate woodwinds. One senses it is building up to something, but it appears to wallow in a pleasant if eerie range until a seemingly full stop. The passage that follows is as close as FORSETI gets to a full folk band sound, as conventional drums and accordion infuse the mix for a relatively rousing final minute. "Der graue konig" is similar throughout its length but excavates some of the genre's post punk and industrial roots while remaining within the scope of Ritter's vision. "Muder Wanderer" is another lovely but mellower piece in the style of very early STRAWBS.

The significant improvement over "Windzeit" makes me wish "Erde" was not the final offering by FORSETI, but given the public disappearance by Andreas Ritter since a serious health issue surfaced in 2005, it might have to suffice. 3.5 stars for this earthy work.

 Windzeit by FORSETI album cover Studio Album, 2002
2.32 | 6 ratings

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Windzeit
Forseti Prog Folk

Review by kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team

2 stars Quite the creepy diminutive sub genre this neo folk. The main reason for its forbidden status seems to lie in one of its best known progenitors, DEATH IN JUNE, who used, and whose fans often embraced, Nazi imagery and paraphernalia. FORSETI presents as a more docile relative, but Andreas Ritter does seem obsessed with the old fashioned, an ideal embraced by hippies and fascists alike, for their own ends. What of the music?

This inaugural full length CD is largely dominated by Ritter's downcast vocals, acoustic guitar, accordion and strings, including cello, and even woodwinds, with the sinister martial aspects of neo folk occasionally rounding out the arrangements. These aspects slot FORSETI closer in timber to STRAWBS circa "Dragonfly", OUGENWEIDE, early 1980s NOVALIS, and even PERERIN, than to the post punk industrialism of their neo folk brethren.

Unfortunately, Ritter's insufficiently medicated moribundity, consummately executed for a couple of tracks, dissolves into tedium too soon. It begs repeated listens but does not compensate for them. Probably the most fully realized tracks are the opener and the very PERERIN like "Herbstabend", although you might pick two others, my point being that this is all well crafted and sincere sounding, but lacking in dynamics.

Douglas P from DEATH IN JUNE guest narrates on the final cut, the only one with English lyrics, but they are as inscrutable to non Germanic speakers as what came before. In the end, it's about the sounds and the impact, and the wispy "Windzeit" couldn't dislodge fluff from a dandelion

Thanks to kenethlevine for the artist addition.

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