Srodek – Förfall

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Like power metal, black metal is a subgenre in which the gulf between how seriously a band hopes to be taken and how seriously they deserve to be taken is often rather wide. In these situations, the material rarely holds up well, and Srodek’s Förfall is no exception. Srodek is a one-man band helmed by a Swedish dude who calls himself Nekrofucker, and if there was a Satanic Warmaster or Archgoat goofiness about his music, that moniker could be forgiven. Unfortunately, there isn’t, and his new record is a deadly serious affair consisting of seven Burzum-worshiping tracks (a rather lean count considering two of them are just intro and outro tracks and only one proper song breaks the seven minute mark). Nekrofucker doesn’t do anything interesting enough to grab our attention, and yet he’s so bent on making us pay attention that he doesn’t do anything fresh or entertaining. This is straight-up Burzum worship right down to the production, but the songwriting isn’t even a fraction of what Varg Vikernes is capable of. You don’t get to start calling yourself minimalist black metal until your minimalism succeeds and the spaces between your notes carry as much importance as the notes themselves. Nekrofucker is simply trying too damn hard, and very little of what he’s trying is working.

Written by Brad Sanders
More: 2011, Albums, Black Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Srodek