A Forest Of Stars
A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

The Gentlemen's Club is back and this time with great style. “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays” reaffirms the same concept once again: A Forest of Stars, in their genre, are head and shoulders above all others, there are no doubts!

If the first two albums had drawn attention to these talented Englishmen, this third work definitively marks their consecration. “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays” is a concept album about a man at odds with himself, torn between virtues and the blasphemy of self-destruction, a story told in perfect Victorian style as only A Forest of Stars can do.

Expect the unexpected from “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays”, expect the unclassifiable and the unlabelable, be ready to love or hate it, because the English combo has now embarked, once and for all, on its path, increasingly distancing itself from any properly said musical movement and any prepackaged description so dear to most. In this album, you will find various musical styles fused with extreme coherence and compositional wisdom; from pure Black to early '90s Doom, navigating through Folk and Prog Rock territories, detecting hints of Middle Eastern music and Victorian Gothic, savoring exquisitely grotesque parts and electronic digressions, in short, an offering nothing short of multifaceted!

After a brief “intro” the dances open with “Prey Tell of the Church Fate”, “A Prophet for a Pound of Flesh”, and “The Blight of God’s Acre”, a spectacular triptych where one can fully understand the album’s offering, which on one hand leaves behind the hypnotic psychedelic compositions that characterized previous works, but on the other hand provides meticulous attention to details and a big leap in compositional quality in the tracks, which, although shorter, are also infinitely more spot-on in every aspect! The second section of the album features a gem of rare beauty named “Gatherer of the Pure”, for which a spectacular video has also been made, perfectly reflecting the proposal of the English combo, serving as a perfect business card for their latest effort.

At the end of the day, “A Shadowplay for Yesterdays” turns out to be an album that will divide the audience, what's certain is that it will be detested by all purists, but maybe that's all for the best. I remind everyone that the album, in addition to the standard CD version, is also available in three other formats: digipack with an interesting bonus track, double vinyl, and art book; this last version, besides being obviously an aesthetic masterpiece, also includes a second CD with other bonuses and a DVD.

So get ready to catapult into the Victorian era and smell the scent of opium, tea, and various hallucinogens at the Gentlemen’s club; A Forest of Stars have returned!