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Darkthrone > F.O.A.D. > Reviews > rarrrgh
Darkthrone - F.O.A.D.

Rock out with yer cock out! - 85%

rarrrgh, December 24th, 2007

To me, Darkthrone may as well have created the black metal textbook. How they specialise in creating generic music, and still sound so great, and dare I say it, original, still baffles me to this day. They are experts in representing everything I first loved in Black Metal, and now, they've decided to cut things right back to the skin and bones, and create some raucous ruckus of an [almost] straight down the line Heavy Metal album. This album drunkenly swaggers from track to track with catchy riffs and ridiculously over the top vocals, shrieking and all. The production sounds fucking great, and it really does make you want to rock out. I just have to make sure I don't headbang too much while I'm driving!

The bottom line for me, is that this albums rocks out, and it's obvious that it's a pure tribute to everything they love in Metal. I just wish I could put my finger on some of the things I love in the genre myself, and actually identify/qualify them in some coherent way. This is where Darkthrone are true masters! The text on Transilvanian Hunger that warns listeners that the album is above criticism holds true for this album. They can do whatever the fuck they like. (just to go off-topic here, I though Sardonic Wrath was worthy of critiscism. It sounded tired to me, like they didn't know what they were doing with it. I guess they were in two minds about carrying on with the textbook general BM, or rocking out more like they have chosen to since)

I do have to say that, with me being English, the guys use of the language makes me laugh. In some ways the use of slang in metal sounds naive to me, but they do actually sound like they're using English English. That might be seen as stupid, but it's the kind of stuff my fellow islanders would come out with. When compared with a lot of other bands, even English bands, the accent/language sounds kind of neutral, avoiding modern cultural dependence, but this is different, so it's so strange to hear them shouting and screaming like this. I'm sure they're no strangers to these shores after hearing this album. It sounds like they've spent many a moon in the pubs over here!

I've enjoyed going through some of the 'top ten' that both guys list in the liner notes too, especially Cirith Ungol which is very new to me, and I had to nod in agreement at some of their other choices too!

I don't really want to give a percentage, what the fuck would it mean anyway? I put 85% in just because I think this is pretty damn solid. Maybe there's room to wonder whether it can stand the test of time like so many of the classics it harks back to. I usually find catchy albums wear off quick. Will Darkthrone go down in history along with greats like the ones they hail? Do I give a fuck? Did those bands give a fuck? Do Darkthrone give a fuck? Of course not!