 | Tracklist:
1. These Shores Are Damned
2. Canadian Metal
3. The Church of Real Metal
4. The Banners of Old
5. Fuck Off and Die
6. Splitkein Fever
7. Raised on Rock
8. Pervertor of the 7 Gates
9. Wisdom of the Dead
Release Date: 2007 | |
| | other reviews | A.K. (4)
Darkthrone do what Darkthrone do, they do what they want to do.... | kattunlover69 (2.5)
Darkthrone take a time machine back to the 80s. Woo!... |
On 2 Lists
|
| Summary: It’s pretty clear that Nocturno Culto and Fenriz have run out of any serious ideas and have resorted to cheap laughs and their name alone to keep them alive today. |
7 of 7 thought this review was well written
Darkthrone is one of the most respected and well known bands in the black metal genre. They’ve put out numerous releases which are hailed by many fans as the best in the genre, A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger especially. These two albums helped define the second wave of black metal with their minimalist songwriting and uncompromising attitude towards creating their self-proclaimed “True Norwegian Black Metal”. I certainly bought into it and I’m a huge fan of their early works, but their most recent LP, F.O.A.D. (which stands for f*ck off and die) is probably the worst thing the band has put out to date. It’s pretty clear that Nocturno Culto and Fenriz have run out of any serious ideas and have resorted to cheap laughs and their name alone to keep them alive today. This album is a horrible collaboration of poorly written rock riffs, uninspired drumming, abhorrent lyrics and vocals, and an occasional attempt at trying to bring back their once loved sound.
If you have ever listened to Darkthrone before you know that the production quality of their albums has always been notoriously bad. This really worked to the band’s advantage back in the early 90s because it gave them an underground feel and just made the albums sound that much more evil. But by now this style of recording has just become a novelty and nothing more. F.O.A.D. hardly sounds like their early black metal albums and shows a strong punk and rock influence, so trying to sound grim and frostbitten just seems silly.
The guitars here are nothing special, and often seem recycled. There were many occasions on listening to this when I thought that I had heard some of these riffs on past albums, and odds are I probably have. The guitar “solos” on here have so much reverb put on them that you can’t understand a single note being played and it comes across as noise and nothing else. It kicked *** on A Blaze in the Northern Sky for some reason, but on here it just sucks.
Fenriz used to play blast beats, and that’s it. I’m pretty sure on Transilvanian Hunger that’s about all he did. There’s a certain lack of them on this album, as Fenriz is either playing an incredibly basic rock beat or playing at incredibly slow tempos to try and give a pathetic attempt at making the song sound epic. Fenriz always claimed that the drums in black metal were there just to be there, and he’s right. There’s nothing special at all here.
The vocals are really what makes this album horrible. Nocturno Culto’s voice sounds completely shot throughout the entire album and his previous shrieks which I loved are all but a distant memory now. Now his vocals are basically a bunch of drunken shouts, especially noticeable in “These Shores are Damned” and the hilariously bad chorus of “Canadian Metal”. These are just a few examples, but the entire album is just filled to the brim with hilariously bad tough guy vocals that I don’t think anyone can take seriously.
In conclusion, the only thing good about this album is that it’s funny. Really funny. “Canadian Metal” definitely made me laugh, especially with the random Rob Halford vocals mixed in. That song and “Raised on Rock” are the only two songs that really stuck out for me, but only because they were so bad. I know that the band doesn’t really take themselves seriously anymore, but at least they could suck less next time.
Highlights: Canadian Metal…and that’s really all you need.
Final Rating: 1.5/5
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
This sounds like complete shit
Digging: blink-182 - The Mark, Tom, And Travis Show
| | | Album Rating: 1
The only reason this isn't a 1 is because you'll laugh when you hear it. Still, it's pretty horrible.
Someone delete the other albums labeled FOAD on Darkthrone's page.
Digging: Circle Takes The Square - As The Roots Undo | | |
I've never liked any of their albums, mainly due to the productions.
Good review though... we've got a lot of them today.
Digging: The Shizit - The Shizit
| | |
I didn't even have to read this to know it would be a bad album.
| | | Album Rating: 1
If you have ever listened to Darkthrone before you know that the production quality of their albums has always been notoriously bad.
Fast, Safe and Cheap. Darkthrone's one words.
Good review, no way in hell that I'm going to check this out.
Digging: Hypocrisy - A Taste Of Extreme Divinity | | |
i want this
Digging: Radiohead - OK Computer
| | |
The Church of Real Metal, lol, that sounds pretty funny. Me too want this.
Digging: Isis - Oceanic
| | |
dude, i'm in Darkthrone and i think you respect the amount of work we have put into this album!
| | |
I think you're totally missing the point with new Darkthrone, for example if Canadian Metal makes you laugh, you're missing out on the fact the entire song is a reference to the elite Canadian metal scene of the late 80s/early 90s. Counter-review to come soon because yeah, you totally missed the point.
Digging: A Forest of Stars - The Corpse of Rebirth
| | | Album Rating: 1
Whether I missed the point or not, "Canadian Metal" is hilarious and pretty shitty.
Just like the rest of this album.
| | |
Which is why you clearly miss the point. This album isn't something you're supposed to take seriously, nor is the last few Darkthrone albums. I've only heard the EP that precurses this, but songs like Canadian Metal were fun, albeit cheesy.
This is just supposed to be a harbinger of fun, brainless metal. They're essentially paying tribute rather than doing what most successful black metal bands do (ie: record TH 5 times in a row).
| | | Album Rating: 1
I knew it wasn't a serious album, but it's just annoying to listen to and Canadian Metal was the only song I'd really consider "fun"...maybe Raised on Rock too.
| | |
Well regardless, I'll check this out and if my opinion is the same as it was for the EP I'll put up a counter-review. If not, right on. The only tracks they share are Canadian Metal and Wisdom of the Dead, which are both outstanding but apparently slightly different than the versions on the full length.
| | |
I love how every review on a relatively popular band starts as "THIS BAD CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH WITH EARLY RELEASE THEY ARE SO GOOD AND HAVE TONS OF FANS AND THEY ARE INFLUENTIAL"
P.S the person who reviewed the album is retarded.
| | |
Thor is one of the best reviewers on this site. You have to be the retarded one not to realize that
Digging: All the Empires of the World - Last Rites
| | |
No he isn't.
| | | Album Rating: 1
"THIS BAD CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH WITH EARLY RELEASE THEY ARE SO GOOD AND HAVE TONS OF FANS AND THEY ARE INFLUENTIAL"
Well...Darkthrone is.
| | | Album Rating: 2
Great review, I was extremely skeptical about buying newer Darkthrone, this review convinced me it's just a big joke.
Digging: Drudkh - Blood In Our Wells | | |
From what I've heard of the new album, it's pretty fun to listen to. It's got a great NWOBHM vibe going for it, which I like quite a bit. And as Tyler said, it's not the type of album you are meant to take in the least bit seriously.
Also, in the second sentence, you should be using a semicolon instead of a comma. The mid-sentence change in tense is also somewhat awkward.
| | |
Great review. This cd sounds terrible.
| | | |
|
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us