Of all the bands that grace the world of funeral doom, there are three that always stick out to me no matter what bands come and go: Bell Witch, Un, and Fórn. While it’s Bell Witch that tends to lap up the fame in the modern scene of funeral doom, it’s Fórn that still manages to get a very respectable amount of attention despite only being a band for six years. With a fair amount of EPs under the belt showing off their quality, it’s with this brand new album that Fórn shows us what they’re really made of.

This was easily one of the more highly anticipated albums of the year when it was initially announced. I was honestly excited about “Rites of Despair” as I knew that within a year we were getting material from all three aforementioned bands that allowed people to really see what funeral doom is all about from Bell Witch’s ambitious memorial, Un’s surprisingly uplifting take, and now Fórn with a dramatic two-act performance that shows us how well funeral doom can bend and thus become a far more entertaining listen. In every form, “Rites of Despair” is an album that easily requires more than one listen in order to fully digest what Fórn is feeding us right here. Quite literally every single track from “Rites of Despair” has a unique approach that really allows Fórn to flex their muscles and show us what they’re made of being it the occasional riff, the ever-present heaviness that permeates every moment of this massive record, a grand sense of musicianship that helps each track fit in a very snug puzzle that culminates in a grand experience, or the moment where Fórn pulls back to allow perspective to all the heaviness via a calmer moment of reprieve. Not a single dull moment comes from what Fórn has done here, and even after listening to “Rites of Despair” time and again I still can’t find anything to not like about this piece.

Everything falls into place perfectly with “Rites of Despair” being a true tour de force of not just doom but an intense lesson of heaviness from one of the more recent acts that continue to carve their own path in a scene that’s as voracious as ever. If there was any record to come out this year that’s the perfect embodiment of calculated heaviness, it’s this mammoth.

LISTEN to “Rites of Despair” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Fórn on Facebook here.