Foad - Darkthrone

Having begun the process of moving away from the relentlessly grim aesthetic of their earlier efforts with their punky, cynically upbeat 2006 full length, "The Cult Is Alive", Norwegian black metal stalwards Darkthone continue to see this journey through to its natural conclusion with their 2007 album 'F.O.A.D.' (The acronym standing for 'F*ck off and Die), which as the title suggests places yet further emphasis on a sloppy rock/punk sound and attitude, whilst still retaining the essence of the raw and lo-fi crunchiness evident in their excellent 2004 release 'Sardonic Wrath'. FOAD proved controversial amongst many of the band's fanbase, as it saw ...  Read the complete review

Returning to Darkthrone after an absence of nine albums, it was inevitable that I would have missed something in their continuing evolution. Sadly, the end result is far from impressive, taking a very different path than I would have hoped after the pure black brilliance of their early nineties works. 'F.O.A.D.' is, it seems, merely the latest of many attempts by the band to play punk rock through a black metal filter, and the experiment isn't particularly successful. It's refreshing to hear a genuinely guitar- and rock-oriented album in a genre that so often relies on gimmicks such as keyboards, but the riffs themselves don't stand up, sounding unsuitably ...  Read the complete review