Band:	Fórn
Album:	The Departure Of Consciousness
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	July 22, 2014
A review by:	Boxcar Willy

01. Emergence
02. Dweller On The Threshold
03. Gates Of The Astral Plane
04. Alexithymia
05. Suffering In The Eternal Void
06. Cerebral Intermission

Fórn is a relatively new band from Boston (read BASTAAAN) Massachusetts. The five piece plays a sludgy mess of doom and black metal. The riffs are heavy, the music is nasty and it's just what you are looking for.

Their debut album The Departure Of Consciousness, is a 30 minute blast of screeching guitars and wailing noise. The album kicks off with an eerie ambient piece; the calm before the storm. The ambience builds and builds up an atmosphere filled with ghastly noise and drones. The semi fuzzed, almost clean guitar tone gradual increases its intensity to a peak of sonic annihilation. The ambience spills over into a harsh and gruesome hit that destroys any previous ambitions that this will be easy listening. The listener is torn from the ambient purgatory and thrown into the pits of sludge hell.

And that's only the first two songs.

The brutish mix of sludge and black metal pours it's way through the relatively short length with the same gusto. The music is reminiscent of genre mates Coffinworm, but contains enough differences (while admittedly subtle) to keep the release fresh and new. The hints of drone and even melodic guitars bring this release to the top of the charts. The guitar work shows it's more than just a beat down, two chord weapon. This keeps the album vibrant and interesting. The production is wonderful, bass heavy and clear without being too plastic and castrating; the album has balls, and it doesn't need to hide it in murky production.

Fórn is a band for those who enjoy being entrapped in the heavy, caustic side of music. Enjoy carefully.