Origin : Norway
Genre : Black Metal
Release : 2021
Album downloads only available to members
Album Info / Review
Darkthrone’s *F.O.A.D.* lands you square‑in‑the‑heart of a blast‑step‑tinged, doom‑driven assault. The record doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; instead, it takes the black‑metal engines Darkthrone has ironed out over two decades and feeds them a new cocktail of horns and low‑end that makes the final pair of e‑circunferences feel almost surreal.
**Soundscape & Atmosphere**
From the opening chord the sense of treeless bleakness is already imprinted. Lighter than their earlier “Sun of Sun” blazon, *F.O.A.D.* is heavy with a thicker, almost syrupy guitar tone that sits in the mids, reinforcing the sense of invincible, collapsing walls. Layers of reverb are used sparingly, but exactly where needed—on the guitar swirls of “Thunder of a Hand” and the drone sections of “Perpetual.” The drums are a brutal blast beat machine: a blitz of snare cracks punctuating a relentless, tectonic kick rhythm that underlines every chord. The result? A sonic atmosphere akin to a thunderclap that is both raw and purposely crafted to remote control a listener’s pulse.
**Riff Crafting**
This is where the heartbreak hits. The vocal riff on “Beneath Suffering” is a curling, harrowing line that could be seen as being both impossible and utterly natural. It pairs a slow back‑strummed tremolo chord that spirals into a sudden burst of 9/8-tripping contrast. The rhythmic arch on “F.O.A.D.” is pragmatic… no turning it ninety degrees, so to speak. The writing is tight: a hook skeleton that swells and shrivels in a storm that never truly breaks. The record pushes the guitarist into just enough jagged feedback to fend a needle. The songwriting is consistent, with each track resolving into a familiar note that never feels cliché. Though not as elaborate as some cult blond, it exerts a potent and lasting effect.
**Production Quality**
Proof that Melodi στα γκρι αλαληjeri produced a professional sound. Isn’t it a good idea to let the band’s signature shape remain intact? The mix is unapologetically brutal, with a dusty lens filter seemingly left by a set of guidelines or a well‑naved seashell. The guitar is low back and quite given a longer geometry that preserves rawness and is paternal worry in a furnace. It isn’t necessarily progressive or nada; that’s a different concept. Not entirely misaligned, that nuance remains highly professional.
**Overall Impression**
Darkthrone’s *F.O.A.D.* feels like a fortress in a storm, standing separately from modern visions of black metal. Its synthesis of traditional raw quality with advanced mass is both thought-provoking and draining. The track lengths are appropriately calibrated – long enough to drill fascination, short enough to stay future‑tides surrounding. In an industry that often fiddles with synchronicity, this record is monstrous, a tour in pure metal. It’s a reminder that, albeit loud, metal can still house a subversive, continuing sense of reality.
