An ash filled sky covers the bloodstained earth where bones of the dead litter the ground. In the distance, footsteps of a great ancient monster echo across the wasteland. This place is now its domain. Loyal cultists light bonfires to appease their great master. “Kneel, kneel before me!” it intones in an ancient tongue from before the time of humans. Soon, not even its acolytes will remain. Bloodlust is a powerful thing when combined with an otherworldly evil. That evil comes out perfectly in local black/doom metal band Fórn’s single “Manifestations of the Divine Root”.
Opening with a particularly brutal scream that sets the song’s tone perfectly, the intensity of the song remains almost constant throughout. Both the bass and guitar are so downtuned they create a punishing wall of noise. While there is certainly a blackened feel to the playing, almost reminiscent of Deafheaven, the doom truly shines through. It’s like black pitch is being poured over the listener with each note, slow, heavy, one continuous riff of sheer oppression melting and consuming their flesh. Vocally, the performance remains just as brutal, low growls and raspy screams go with the riffs through the song. They’re more monstrous than human with a genuine otherness to the tone. The singer becomes inhuman, a raging demon leading on a Satanic orchestra. It beckons the listener to pay tribute or face punishment for a display of wretched insolence. Never does the song let up to give a moment of rest and that’s exactly the way it should be, brutal to the core.
Not often does brutal metal come by like this and end up so well executed. Fórn knows just how to create the perfect level of intensity for a truly evil sound without devolving into noise for noise’s sake. A punishing single by any measure, Fórn’s new album promises to be a definite highlight for the local metal scene.