There must be something about the long, cold, unrelenting New England winters that has produced so many bands over the years who specialize in various forms of doom-laden sonic madness. The list of bands is too comprehensive to rattle them all off here, and frankly one band is making it a moot point to even try. That’s because with their upcoming EP, Boston’s Fórn are firmly entrenching themselves at the top of the region’s doom heap.
Doom may actually be too restrictive of a term for a band like Fórn. Yes, there exists mammoth-like riffs that simply blow the floor right out from under you. Yes, there are bellowed, guttural vocals that seem to emanate from the Earth’s core. But Fórn are not afraid to step outside the doom realm for inspiration, often melding their brand of doom with post-rock and sludge elements that give their sound a unique ambiance that many modern doom records seem to be lacking. Take a track like “Dolor (Part I)” where the brutality is at one turn halted by and at another aided by a shoegaze-like element that seems to only strengthen the desired affect of truly pummeling the listener. It’s akin to a great army heading for battle, only to be stopped momentarily by a raging river that is not only crossed but is used as a replenishing source of life on their way to obliterating their enemy.
With their debut full-length, last year’s The Departure of Consciousness, Fórn began the process of putting themselves somewhere on the map of American doom metal. With this EP they’ve taken the map, lit it on fire, and begun the process of rewriting the rule book for just how nasty atmospheric doom metal can be. There’s a constant feeling of danger held within these four songs, a consistent air of an unsettling presence lurking in the shadows, waiting and watching. Like all the best elements of the horror genre in other mediums it’s as thrilling as it is disconcerting, the type of album you simply may want to avoid listening to in a darkened room alone…or not.
Weltschmerz will be available as a 12″ EP and officially releases on December 11 but you can experience all four tracks now at the Fórn Bandcamp page.
