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Forlorn

The Rotting

Written by: PP on 21/09/2010 21:45:57

Forlorn is the kind of band that shouldn't just yet be releasing a full length album, because they are still looking for their place in the music industry and don't appear to be quite sure as to what sort of metal they should specialize in. That's why their new album "The Rotting" is so difficult to pigeonhole or to even describe, because it's very much just a metal album, borrowing influences from a number of sub genres like thrash, death, even black metal and metalcore, without really fusing them together into anything truly meaningful or memorable. That's probably also why their support slots across the UK have ranged from nu-metal (Panic C3ll), metalcore (Malefice) to hardcore (Raging Speedhorn), because nobody seems to know what to make of these guys.

There is, however, one aspect about "The Rotting" that's very clear. These guys mean business, and by business I mean heavy, macho, muscular business. The sound is ugly, gritty, and old school. The production leaves the guitars muddily thrashing along, leaving a distant Sepultura/The Cavalera Conspiracy parallel to run free on the background. But somewhere in the process of trying to sound as brutally heavy and old school thrash metal as possible, Forlorn have forgotten to focus on mildly important topics like: a) songwriting, b) interesting riffs and c) generally anything else that doesn't rhyme with the word 'thick'. No matter how many times I spin "The Rotting", no memorable passages, headbang-inducing riffs, nor even acceptable nods to the past greats seem to appear. Only unforgiving, ballsy, darkened metal that hangs about somewhere between the realms of hardcore and thrash metal while lacking the desire to be either or. Crossover bands are successful in emulating such a hybrid, but since Forlorn isn't really a crossover band either, I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly who they would appeal to, especially with as sub par product as this one.

Download: Doomed
For the fans of: (old school) Sepultura, Obituary, The Cavalera Conspiracy
Listen: Myspace

Release date 12.07.2010
Rising Records