I am pretty sure that pronunciation is supposed to be "Forlorn", but I could be way off base. This is an extremely quick and dirty demo from a band experimenting with combining black metal and grindcore, two styles that I am not sure get mixed together too often. The band features two members of blackened slam (also two styles that do not get mixed often) outfit Hateful Transgression, a band whose demo tape I am still trying to find after originally ordering it from the label only to find that it was no longer active. There are some interesting moments on this release, in particular the drum blast in opening track "Crawling Inside" that is so fast it sounds like a motor sputtering to life. The black metal parts mostly come from the vocal style, which is often a rasping shriek rather than the more typical grindcore style. There are some riffs here and there that are more black metal in nature as well. Otherwise, it is more of a death/grind release. Fvrlvrn deserves credit for trying something new. I still prefer Hateful Transgression personally and will hopefully one day find that demo tape. Fvrlvrn recently changed their name to Morgue Walker.
Well, with a title like that, you pretty much know what to expect: balls-to-the-wall pure fucking metal, and that is what you get. The Motorhead and Exciter covers hidden in the album cover art are some additional clues. The combination of those two bands is a pretty decent way to describe the band's sound, definitely fast-paced with soaring vocals and sing-along choruses. Seax has apparently been around for some time as this is the band's third full-length album. There have been a lot of bands popping up in recent years playing this kind of retro heavy metal, so Seax has their work cut out for them if they want to break through. They definitely have the chops though, as this album attests.
I discovered Unspeakable through recommendations by various people on Facebook and Youtube. The band is a black/death metal band in the vein of Archgoat, Black Witchery, and the like and from St. Louis. This band is certainly raw and primitive-sounding, which I can definitely appreciate. The songs are fast-paced and intense and sound like the kind of thing that would have been recorded in the mid-1980's. Of particular note is "Fevered Dreams in the Witch House", not just for the face-melting riffs, but I dig the Lovecraft reference. Final track "Unspeakable" caught me by surprise at first as I kept thinking this sounds a lot like very early black metal bands. Sure enough, it is a cover of an NME song from their debut demo in 1985. That makes sense. I love this tape so much I ordered their previous release and will be keeping an eye out for a full-length, which is apparently coming soon.
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