Becoming the Forest V

Becoming the Forest Issue V
Traversing the subterranean passages of the caverns of black metal

Becoming the Forest is a serial publication about ecology and music edited by Úna Hamilton Helle and Lotte Brown. It is part of a long-running art project by Úna Hamilton Helle, inspired by how the dense spruce forests of Norway defined the aesthetic and philosophical outlook of the musical subculture of black metal. Ever since its inception, black metal has been intimately entangled with its surrounding topography, a relationship which forms the starting point for the publication’s approach. Interviews with bands are mixed in with essays and poems about a host of wide-ranging topics, such as music, myth, philosophy, biology, popular culture and history.

For this issue we delve into the depths of the subterranean, covering topics from old Norwegian stone customs to the underground topographies of Tabletop Roleplaying.

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
148 pages, 210x135mm
printed in black & white, some colour, on recycled and tracing paper
ISBN 9789082988031
Distributed by Public Knowledge Books

Publication date: 8 August 2025

CONTENTS

EARTHBOUND ROCKS AND THUNDER STONES:
TALES FROM NORWEGIAN STONE CULTURE
Úna Hamilton Helle
Wherein glacial rocks and cupmarked 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!
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
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
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
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