DIMMU BORGIR

Reviewed:
- For All Tid (1995)
- Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997)


FOR ALL TID          1995         (Nuclear Blast)
- Standouts: 'Under korpens vinder', 'Stien', 'Hunnerkongens sorgsvarte ferd over steppene', 'Raabjørn speiler draugheimens skodde'
If you read my recent 'Blast from the past albums' post about Gorgoroth's Under the Sign of Hell, you'll know that I didn't really get into black metal until I was around 18, and even then I would say I was only really a casual fan of the genre throughout most of my 20s. Dimmu Borgir were one of the first black metal bands I checked out; I remember buying their 2005 album Stormblåst MMV - actually a re-recording of their 1996 album of the same name - and liking it enough to pick up Death Cult Armageddon not long afterwards. And then I didn't buy any other Dimmu Borgir albums for many years... at some point during my 20s I acquired Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, but it's not until recent years that I really acquired more of their catalogue. Like I said, I was a casual black metal fan for years, so I was only really picking up albums that could be considered "essential" to the genre for a very long time.  

But hey, it's 2026 now and I own most of Dimmu Borgir's major releases, including this 1995 debut of theirs, For All Tid ('For All Time' translated). I haven't really lived with this one very long, but I like it. I'd heard the band's earlier material was much rawer and more in line with the classic second-wave Norwegian black metal sound than what they would evolve into later, but that just means I kinda dig this album by default. It's far from one of the best black metal albums of the time that I can think of; it doesn't hold a candle to Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse, Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas or Immortal's At the Heart of Winter etc., but I still find For All Tid to be an enjoyable romp nonetheless. True, the style of tremolo riffing combined with the rough production is similar to what a lot of the other bands of the scene were doing at the time, but you can still hear plenty of the key ingredients of what makes Dimmu Borgir, well, Dimmu Borgir in here throughout the CD. For starters, this is still melodic black metal with strong symphonic overtones. It's just a much less refined, cruder version of the sort of thing they would record later on down the line.

Technically speaking, the music is more simplistic here than their later works. And thanks to the raw production, the songs have a much harsher feel to them. I won't say heavier, but definitely harsher in that typical lo-fi black metal fashion. Most of the lead vocals were still performed by Silenoz here, rather than Shagrath. And for the most part, he's growling and gargling his way through the songs, save for some usage of clean vocals on 'Over bleknede blåner til dommedag'. His clean vocals are, admittedly, kinda amateurish and borderline amusing, but I can tolerate them. It's a big part of Dimmu Borgir's sound, it's just surprising how Silenoz ended up singing the bulk of the songs when Shagrath is undoubtedly the better vocalist of the 2. Guess he just didn't know it yet?! And while the band's instrumentation would get more technical and impressive further down the line, I wouldn't necessarily call the song structures "basic". They don't sound any less accomplished than a lot of their contemporaries, at least in my opinion. Even if the songs aren't hugely exciting overall, they're not sloppy.

I can't call this my favourite Dimmu Borgir record, but I'm definitely in the ballpark of fans who actually appreciate this album. Review scores and opinions are all over the place online. I agree that it's as basic as the band gets, but I think as a black metal album from 1995, it's really not a bad effort at all. Sure, not much research is required to find better albums from the same era than this one, but you could certainly do a lot worse. The keyboards have been put to good use and bring lots of appropriately mystical and cold atmosphere to the simplistic riffs. It adds that much-needed symphonic layer to some pretty basic black metal, and makes them feel much more grandiose and epic. And that's good of course! Atmosphere is hugely important in this genre, and I think they deliver in this regard. That's probably why I like For All Tid. Again, not a classic of the genre, but a solid start for Dimmu Borgir. 
Adam's rating: 7.4/10


ENTHRONE DARKNESS TRIUMPHANT          1997          (Nuclear Blast)
- Standouts: Whole thing is superb!
I'm fully aware that I'm missing the original version of Stormblåst, which was released in 1996 between For All Tid and this, 1997's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. It seems to sell for an arm and a leg online wherever I look right now, and I'm happy enough to just stick with my copy of the 2005 re-recorded version. But anyway, last October I spent a weekend in Chester with my fiancée and visited a really cool record shop that I'd once been in many years ago (Grey n Pink Records). A lot of their stock is vinyl, but they also have a tasty selection of used CDs. I found my copy of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant for something like £3 or £4, and it rekindled my interest in Dimmu Borgir. The last time I bought a DB album was way back in likely my early 20s (it was Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia). But I've listened to Enthrone Darkness Triumphant a lot in the last 6 months or so, and like I said in my For All Tid review, I've added a few more DB albums to my collection ever since. Also nice is the fact practically all these albums have cost me very little (except for the aforementioned 1996 Stormblåst, where any version of that album is crazy expensive right now!) - I feel like a lot of the bands I like have at least 3 or 4 albums that are out of print and hard to find cheap.

Anyway, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is one classy, dramatic and maybe even operatic slab of black metal. The level of musicianship compared to For All Tid is night and day. Yet they still hadn't quite gotten super popular yet at this point, so the album as a whole feels more like a 100% legit black metal release. I'd like to point out that I personally don't hold any grudges against them getting popular. I guess some fans felt they sold out with their later albums... fair enough, but I still think they had plenty of aces left up their sleeves. They're one of the very few Scandinavian black metal bands with charting albums worldwide! If anything, I admire that!

Back to EDT. The music is much more accomplished of course, but still firmly black metal. Everything's just better now, though. The guitars are still mostly made up of tremolo-picked riff structures, but there's far more going on. You get more odd chords thrown in, and all the riffs flow together effortlessly. Also, you do get the occasional catchy riff here and there (just listen to those more conventional mid-tempo heavy metal riffs in 'Master of Disharmony') - they don't take away from the bleak atmosphere or black metal sound of this album, they just keep things fresh. Meanwhile, the symphonic/keyboardy element of the band is much more impressive and moody, not mention memorable. It's hard to remember some of these tracks purely by the riffs, but I never forget how any of the symphonic/keyboard melodies go, particularly on songs like 'Spellbound (By the Devil)', 'Tormentor of Christian Souls', 'Entrance', 'In Death's Embrace' etc.. They're either epic, dark, brooding or gothic... or all of those things at the same time! I'd also like to add that Tjodalv's drum work is tight as fuck, and throughout the album he's doing all kinds of double-kicks and blast beats; a huge step-up from For All Tid. The music is pretty darn great then, but so are the vocals. Shagrath takes over lead vocals, and even though he's not really "original" in his approach to them, his growls are dark and menacing, yet also clear and audible all things considered. 

There's not really a lot of holes I can pick with this one. The songs are all kind of samey I guess, so if I'm not in a black metal mood, well, tough shit. There aren't any songs that obviously stand out as being different from one another, but this isn't really a bad thing either. Basically, the album never gets boring. Even the production is really good; far more professional than For All Tid, and also a whole lot heavier. I get that some people dig the lo-fi sound of black metal, but I think when you're writing and recording songs with this much depth, a raw mix wouldn't be getting the best out of the tracks. So really, practically everything on this album is a prime example of symphonic black metal done correctly. Dimmu Borgir won't ever top Emperor for me, but Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is no doubt one of the greatest albums of this particular style.
Adam's rating: 9/10

Blast from the past albums #12: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - Killswitch Engage (2000, Ferret Music)

In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.

Let me just start by saying I'm not a fan of metalcore. When Parkway Drive were announced to headline the Saturday night at Bloodstock 2019, I felt betrayed (I'm that much of a sad bastard). Yep, I'm one of those guys. Maybe if metalcore had been one of my first major exposures to metal as a whole, then I'd be more into it. But it wasn't, and there's also something about the metalcore scene in general that feels drastically different to the type of crowds I meet at any heavy/thrash/death/black/power metal gig etc. in a way that I don't want to be a part of. So why the fuck do I have any Killswitch Engage albums in my collection then?! Especially considering the fact I've always hated their cover of Dio's 'Holy Diver' with a burning passion! Well, at some point during my late teens I suddenly decided that I actually kind of liked the song 'My Last Serenade', so I went out and bought their 2002 album Alive or Just Breathing. In fact, Alive or Just Breathing in general is a metalcore album I can somewhat tolerate. Some of the melodic parts annoy me, but I find the songwriting on that record to be often impressive. I liked it enough that it made me pick up their debut very soon after. And guess what? Until now I hadn't touched it for about a million years.

I can understand why I haven't bothered listening to this album again since I was about 19. Aside from maybe the odd riff, the first 3 tracks were immediately uncomfortable for me to digest. I'm not saying that because they're bad; in fact, I'll take Killswitch Engage over Bad Omens, Ice Nine Kills, Motionless in White and all the over TikTok generation pop metalcore slop that's popular these days. At least I know well enough that KE actually have credibility within their genre. I'm just saying that they don't settle well with me because they reminded me right away why I'm not a metalcore fan in the first place. It's the whiny, clean and melodic parts that piss me off. Well, that and the vocals as a whole. Jesse Leach definitely suits the music, that much is true - but he's not my cup of tea. The harsh vocals are too high pitched and grating, and not in a black metal way either. His clean singing voice is actually rather good, I'd just prefer not hear that, well, emo style of singing in my metal thank 'ya very much. But you know what? As a metalcore vocalist he's probably great. Talented for sure, just not my kind of vocalist. One thing I will give the band credit for is the blatantly obvious hardcore side of the metalcore sound. 'Irreversal' is built around some really heavy, detuned beatdown hardcore style riffs that remind me of bands like Terror, Strife... maybe even a bit of Biohazard. It makes me question where the "metal" part of "metalcore" comes into it, but at least they've got the "core" side covered!

In all honesty though, most of the album from track 4 onwards actually sounds quite a lot more metal to me. Other than the moody instrumental 'One Last Sunset', they seem to tone down the clean, melodic parts within a lot of the songs later on. Much of the riffing is kind of a blend of groove metal, melodeath and even a touch of thrash here and there, and in general about 60% of the actual music on this album actually sounds good to this metalhead's ears. I'm talkin' to the point where songs like 'Soilborn', 'Rusted Embrace' and 'In the Unblind' would actually sound pretty great with another singer with a completely different vocal style! The riffs are tight and heavy, any of the breakdown-y parts don't sound like pure cringe which I find to be the case with so many modern metalcore bands and there's also enough melody implemented within them that they're memorable too. If I had to pick a favourite song, it's probably 'Numb Sick Eyes'. The harsh vocals are still borderline annoying to me, but Leach's clean vocals combined with the atmospheric backing vox work really well here.

This is undoubtedly a biased post. I admitted at the beginning that I generally can't get on board with metalcore. But this album is a part of my collection, and it certainly does qualify for this post's subject matter! So at the very least I'm being honest here. I don't find this debut to be totally worthless; like I said, a decent chunk of the music sounds pretty decent to me, probably because I don't feel like the instrumentation is even typically metalcore 100% of the time. And I think guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz' (although at this point he was still on drums) relatively raw production is a breath of fresh air from the cleaner tones of their later stuff. But obviously I can't get fully on board with the vocals; I don't find Jesse Leach to be completely unlistenable, but I can only deal with him in small doses. But he's a huge reason why the metalcore vocal style in general just isn't my thing. Overall, this is probably a good album for metalcore fans, but for me it's a "just about tolerable" kind of affair. 95% of metalcore sounds horrid to me, so I guess that's a complement?

Funnily enough, I still wasn't completely done with Killswitch Engage after obtaining this debut and Alive or Just Breathing, 'cos for some reason I also own 2013's Disarm the Descent. I can't remember anything about that album other than the single 'In Due Time'.
Adam's rating: 5/10

Blast from the past albums #11: GORGOROTH - Under the Sign of Hell (1997, Regain Records)

In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or in my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.

I wrote in the 10th 'Blast from the past albums' post that practically every single one of them has been about an album I bought as a new release between 2006 and 2009. It got me thinking about albums recorded way before that period that I picked up around the same time, but have not heard in forever. I was scanning my collection, and Gorgoroth's 1997 effort, Under the Sign of Hell, seems to fit this category.

I like black metal a lot. I really do. It's not a subgenre of metal I gravitate to on a regular basis, but when I'm in the mood for it I honestly find it to be one of the best. It can be so cold and unforgiving in a way that takes me to another place. It has a sense of escapism that I find a lot of other metal subgenres lack... but like I was saying, sometimes I don't want to be in that cold, unforgiving place! Anyway, I've always liked Norway's Gorgoroth, yet for some reason Under the Sign of Hell is still the only album of theirs I actually own, and I think for that reason I kind of forget about them. I'm not giving them the justice they deserve, because as of typing this post, I genuinely think they may have been the first black metal band I ever witnessed live. The first ever Bloodstock Open Air I attended was in 2010, and they played the mainstage on the Friday afternoon. I was still pretty new to black metal aged 18, and I was probably only listening to Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir and some of the first-wave bands from the '80s like Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost etc. (which is a totally different brand of black metal to the second wave of the '90s anyway). But I still remember their performance quite clearly to this day. Pest was on vocals and in true Norwegian black metal fashion, the band were adorned in corpse paint, spikes and black clothing. They were great, but the fact they played mid-afternoon on the mainstage outdoors didn't really suit their style in terms of atmosphere! They'd have been better off on the Sophie Lancaster tent stage later that day, but whatever. I'm pretty sure I bought Under the Sign of Hell not too long after Bloodstock 2010, making it one of the first second-wave black metal albums I ever picked up.

This is a pretty short album at just under 33 minutes, but it doesn't really need to go on any longer than that. Simply put, Gorgoroth are harsh! I mean, most '90s black metal 'outta Scandinavia is harsh, but this record is sharper than a rusty razor blade. It has this particularly piercing tone as well as the ever-important bleak atmosphere that is essential to black metal. It's quite difficult to describe... the album isn't as spooky as Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, nor is it quite as lo-fi and sloppy as Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger. The musicianship is actually rather good; it may come off as sloppy and chaotic if you aren't really focusing hard on the songs, but if you are paying close attention there's actually quite a lot going on here, in a good way. Some of the tracks like 'Revelation of Doom', 'Krig' and 'The Rite of Infernal Invocation' (before that unsettling windy ambience takes over anyway) are all total assaults of the senses to keep the listener on edge. They're about as violent as black metal gets. Well, in my experience anyway. But the band do slow the tempo and bring doom elements to the music on other songs like the bleak 'The Devil is Calling' and the surprisingly catchy, memorable (!!) riffing within 'Profetens åpenbaring'. Meanwhile, 'Ødeleggelse og undergang' kind of takes advantage of both styles with it's doomy transition that comes in the middle of the track. 

As is pretty common in black metal, the riffs are mostly tremolo-picked which is pretty much essential to get that second-wave black metal sound, and apart from 'The Rite of Infernal Invocation', there aren't any solos to speak of. It also sports Pest on vocals. I get that Gaahl is probably the most iconic Gorgoroth vocalist (despite not appearing until 1998), but Pest is totally suitable for Under the Sign of Hell. For most of the album he performs with a high-pitched rasp. He doesn't sound especially unique in that sense, but he's ideal for the songs. The fact he almost sounds off-key at times actually works in the songs' favour. Also, you occasionally get spoken word vocals here and there to enhance the unsettling atmosphere. On 'Blood Stains the Circle' he genuinely sounds like he's trapped in an asylum and screaming for help. Great stuff!

The production is one of my favourite aspects of this album. It's expectedly raw as fuck, yet it feels very well thought-out and constructed all the same. The instruments are audible and I can make out the riffs perfectly. And the drum sound... maybe some of the best-sounding drums I've ever heard on a black metal record?! The tone of the blast beats is just so primal and relentless, and they sound so good!! I don't really talk about drumming in detail all that often. I'm not a drummer, and I find it difficult to sound like I know what I'm talking about (because I don't) when it comes to drums. It's something I really feel like I should work on, but I really want to emphasise how much I love Grim's drumming on this record. It's one of my favourite aspects for sure.

Well, here's another example of a fantastic album I've owned for going on 16 years that has been gathering dust for at least 10 or more of them. I liked it a lot when I first picked it up, sure, but compared to now I was only really a very casual fan of black metal throughout my late teens and even most of my 20s. That's probably a big reason why I haven't given Under the Sign of Hell a lot of attention over the years. Really, I think this is a killer slab of true Norwegian black metal. I don't think Gorgoroth are doing anything especially original or unique here, yet they still have an identity of their own on this album. I won't say it's one of my absolute favourite records of the genre, but it's pretty damn great that's for sure. I have the 2007 CD remaster from Regain Records. In 2011 the band would re-record the album in it's entirety... according to the internet it sucks, so I probably won't make a point of checking out that version anytime soon!
Adam's rating: 8.7/10

Blast from the past albums #10: THE SWORD - Gods of the Earth (2008, Kemado Records)

In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or in my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.

This is now article number 10 in this particular series of posts, and it's no coincidence that every single one of the albums I've spoken about - with the exception of Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus - has been released between 2006 and 2009. These are albums I bought as new (or nearly new) releases when I was first properly getting into music during my school and college days. I was buying many classic albums at the time as well, and most of those are one's that have been in rotation for me forever. But this isn't always the case with albums I bought as new releases. A lot of them aren't classics, and probably never will be. It doesn't mean they're poor, it just often means that I listened to them a bunch of times when they were new and then simply moved on. The Sword's second full-length, 2008's Gods of the Earth, is one such record.

The funny thing about me and my relationship with The Sword is that I picked up Gods of the Earth back in '08 in a slipcase package with their 2006 debut, Age of Winters. I still dig out Age of Winters every once a while, even to this day; I've always been a fan of that album, and songs like 'Freya' and 'Iron Swan' are tracks I like to put in playlists. Yet I've barely touched Gods of the Earth since my teens, despite actually liking it at the time. Even weirder is the fact I never bought any Sword albums that came since, despite seeing them live at the Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton back in 2013!

Anyway, Gods of the Earth is totally worth a revisit, and certainly qualifies for this series of blog posts. Hearing it again now for the first time since who knows when, I'm not quite sure why it's been gathering dust on my shelves for so bloody long. Sonically, it sounds a lot like Age of Winters. The guitars have that similarly fuzzed-up, overdriven sound once again. It sounds deliberately under-produced, but not necessarily in a "raw, lo-fi" kind of style. It feels like they were aiming more for a vintage, organic sound. If they wanted this album to sound clean and crisp, then they would've recorded it that way - this was 2008, not 1978 after all. And considering the strong stoner/doom metal style of the band (at least at this point in their career), it was the correct way to go. I think Age of Winters' production was pretty spot-on, why change if it worked so well the first time?

The songs themselves mostly feel like a natural progression from the debut. They retain the same levels of heaviness - in fact, I'd argue that Gods of the Earth is maybe even heavier than it's predecessor. Just listen to the crushing doom monger that is 'Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians' (I have no fucking clue what a "Hyperzephyrian" is!)! But I also think on a technical level, the songs are a tad more intricate and ambitious this time around. They're not progressive in a way that they transition in and out of different styles or anything like that, there's just a little bit more going on this time. Little melodies and licks that have been interwoven within riffs nicely, stuff like that. But like I was saying before, they're still just as heavy, if not heavier at the end of the day. The riffs once again blend the doominess of Black Sabbath and Pentagram with the fuzzy, stoner tones of a band like Kyuss - and it's done in a way that feels natural and effortless.

On a musical level, I think this album is more impressive than it's predecessor. The only thing that somewhat lets things down slightly (on surface level anyway) is the fact the songs aren't as memorable because of it. Songs like 'Barael's Blade' and 'Freya' etc. from Age of Winters will stick in your head almost immediately after you've listened to them. 'The Frost-Giants Daughter', 'To Take the Black' or 'How Heavy This Axe' etc. from Gods of the Earth require repeated listens for me to really take in. There's definitely a simplicity/catchiness factor lacking here that the debut album didn't have. This sounds like a glaring issue, but considering I enjoyed practically every second of Gods of the Earth after hearing it again for this post, it's really not a huge deal. The album is a good time from start finish, it just has subtle differences that make it a slightly more demanding listen I guess. But even so, I'd still say this album is pretty accessible as far as stoner/doom metal goes. And there's plenty of variety in tempo throughout these tracks too - there's some speed within songs like 'Lords' and 'The Black River'. It's not all slow and lumbering stuff. 

Really, if you liked the debut, then there's no way in hell you're not gonna enjoy this follow-up record. Vocalist/guitarist J.D. Cronise sounds identical here vocally, and the songs along with the production still sounds like The Sword. Early-career The Sword anyway. It's a fine follow-up to a great debut. I still prefer the debut, but the fact Gods of the Earth has been rotting away for so long in my collection is sacrilege! 
Adam's rating: 8/10

DARKTHRONE

Reviewed:
- Soulside Journey (1991)
- A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)
- Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
- Transylvanian Hunger (1994)
- Panzerfaust (1995)
- F.O.A.D. (2007)
- Arctic Thunder (2016)
- Eternal Hails...... (2021)
- Astral Fortress (2022)


SOULSIDE JOURNEY           1991          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: I kinda think the whole thing flows nicely.
I have huge respect for Darkthrone. I know they'll likely always be remembered mainly for their pioneering Norwegian black metal albums over anything else - but the truth is they've always just done what they felt like doing at any given time, and usually it works for them. They're not your conventional band either; since about 1993 they've been a 2 man project consisting of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto that haven't performed live since 1996. They're purely a studio project, and have been cranking out albums pretty regularly since their inception. Like I said, I have huge respect for them. They're all about the music, and about as honest as a musical project can be.

Their debut, 1991's Soulside Journey, is their only fully-fledged death metal album (unless you count the Goatlord demo). Even this early into their career they were hopping subgenres! Anyway, I dig this a lot. It's also the only album they recorded as a 4 piece, and being a death metal release, the music is tighter and more involved than what they'd be doing on their next few black metal records. So yeah, Soulside Journey is not exactly "typical Darkthrone" - but then what does count as "typical Darkthrone" anyway? As I said at the beginning of this review, they've kinda always done what they wanted to, and that means you get a lot of musically differing albums from them.

So, I like this album quite a lot. It's not up there as one of my favourite death metal albums of all time by any means. But as a death metal album from 1991, it's still as competent as anything else the genre was throwing our way. And the early '90s was a time when death metal was really beginning to thrive, especially with the high number of American bands. Soulside Journey holds it's own against other albums from US bands like Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary etc. from the same era, but it being Norwegian also gives it a unique flavour of it's own. I'll admit that this was not the first Darkthrone album I ever bought and listened to; I can still sort of hear later Darkthrone in this record despite it being death metal. But Soulside Journey just feels colder than what a lot of those US bands were doing, somehow. And that's fitting considering it comes from a Scandinavian band! The cold atmosphere is prevalent on a songs like 'Grave With a View', 'Neptune Towers' and the instrumentals 'Accumulation of Generalization' and 'Eon'. They make use of keyboards when necessary, and they add a desolate layer of atmosphere to the music. It just makes the music that little bit more unique and otherworldly. Funnily enough, even though they don't sound like the keyboards on Emperor's seminal black metal classic In the Nightside Eclipse (nor have they been used to the same extent on Soulside Journey), the way they've been implemented here reminds me of that album. The riffs vary from fast and mid-tempo throughout, and even if Fenriz isn't necessarily the best drummer in the game, he still keeps up with the guitars just fine. The riffs are often tremolo-picked here, which is of course a trait of black metal. But hey, death metal bands were probably utilising this style before black metal bands anyway. And the intensity of the drums combined with Nocturno Culto's deep guttural growls makes it quite clear that you're listening to Darkthrone in death metal mode. I hear a lot of Possessed and even Kreator in these riffs too. The guitar solos aren't too shabby either - definitely not flashy and overly-technical, but keep the music that little bit more interesting. 

Really, this is a death metal record that I feel often tends to focus on atmosphere over trying to be as heavy as possible. Even in 1991 you can find a lot heavier albums than this one. It's not even as technical as a lot of it's competition at the time - but I'm still impressed by the musicianship considering how early into their career this thing was. I can't call it sloppy at all. The production too, is ballsier than what was to come on some of their black metal albums. And like I was saying, that unmistakeably cold Norwegian atmosphere is what keeps me coming back to this one. It's what gives the album it's character. No, it's not the greatest death metal album of all time, nor is it even my favourite Darkthrone record. Even if the music never amazes me, it never dips in quality either. In fact, a lot of the songs kind of blend into one and are difficult to pick out individually - but when listening to the album from start to finish, it doesn't really matter. Soulside Journey is, well, a journey! A freezing one, but an enjoyable one!
Adam's rating: 8.3/10


A BLAZE IN THE NORTHERN SKY          1992          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: All of it!
Is 1992's A Blaze in the Northern Sky the first true Norwegian black metal album? Depends how you look at it I guess. It could very well be the first fully-fledged studio album of the movement even if Darkthrone weren't actually the first band to be playing in that style. Whatever! Groundbreaking stuff right here folks - from the corpse paint and the tremolo riffs to the insanely raw production, this album is true Norwegian black metal in every sense of the word. It being black metal in the 'truest' sense means that by default a lot of people won't get it. And that's fine. I didn't understand the appeal of this type of black metal until I was about 18 or 19, and had already been listening to death metal for a few years at that point. The thing is, I think you have to be specific when discussing black metal. There's plenty of bands that fuse black metal with other styles, and lots of people take to them (Deafheaven for instance). But black metal in it's purest form is different - it's supposed to be raw and uncomfortable. It's not meant to be polished or full of melody. But I think it's also supposed to create a powerful sense of cold dark atmosphere, which Darkthrone certainly do accomplish with this album. If the music is just raw, uncomfortable and sloppy and doesn't accomplishing any sort of eerie brooding aura, then yeah, it's probably just shite. As I was saying, black metal will never be every metalhead's cup of tea, and I totally understand that.

About the only time I hear any sense of 'melody' - and I use that term loosely - is the creepy, unsettling acoustic part at the end of 'In the Shadow of the Horns'! Oh, and maybe that awesome, almost groovy riff in the middle of the title track too, which is still kinda twisted anyway. Nah, the majority of the 6 tracks found on this album are grim and lo-fi as hell. And the funny thing is, A Blaze in the Northern Sky is the first of the band's so-called "Unholy Trinity" - this, 1993's Under a Funeral Moon and 1994's Transylvanian Hunger. Of the 3, Blaze is the most polished! But to call this album polished is still a load of bollocks of course. The structure of the songs mostly consists of buzzsaw tremolo-picked guitars, frantic drums with the occasional lead guitar lick (like the tiny 'solo' on 'Where the Cold Winds Blow'!) and catchy riff. Nocturno Culto's vocals are really good; he's not growling quite as deep here as he was on Soulside Journey, but they are consistently throat-shredding and demonic throughout. There's even some spoken-word elements here and there. It's hard to pick a favourite track. Maybe the title track because of that cool riff in the middle, but like a lot of black metal albums for me, I find A Blaze in the Northern Sky to be the sort of record you kind of have to listen to in full. It's all about the whole package, because all the songs follow pretty much the same formula and the dark, menacing atmosphere feels like the main focus more than anything else. 

It's funny how your ears can really tune into stuff that's not supposed to appeal to the masses. I said before that I didn't like black metal from day 1, yet I've just sat through A Blaze in the Northern Sky again for this review and the whole thing was over before I knew it because I'm so used to this style of music now. I mean, the opening song 'Kathaarian Life Code' is over 10 and a half minutes, yet it felt like half of that. I guess this is where the immense atmosphere comes in again. Because it takes me elsewhere, it makes the album feel more like an experience than just a bunch of songs. Unsurprisingly then, I'm a big fan of this album and hold it in very high regard like so many other die hard metalheads. I don't consider it to be one of the absolute best black metal albums, and it's not actually my favourite Darkthrone disc either. But fuckin' A it's one of the most important, and a blueprint for so many other artists and projects. Of course, even if I do think there's more superior albums than this, A Blaze in the Northern Sky is still a great one.

And now I'm about to go off on a bit of ramble. A black metal-related ramble though, thankfully. When I was saying about plenty of people not 'getting' black metal, well, I kind of think maybe they're taking it too seriously? Most of the bands and albums that came from that '90s wave of black metal were recorded by teenage edgelords. The music can be amazing, and it's incredible what some of those artists achieved at such a young age in the '90s... but they were oftentimes just teenagers trying to be as edgy as possible. Even if they were serious about it then, I doubt a lot of these guys are totally serious about it now. Go watch or read interviews with Fenriz, or Abbath of Immortal, and they're both pretty funny guys that don't take themselves particularly seriously. It's just a metal subgenre at the end of the day. Erm, until you take into account all the church burnings and murders that happened. I suppose the real answer is that the majority of the bands were just edgy kids making black metal music... with the exception of a few bad apples (I'm sure you know which one's I'm hinting at).

But then of course, some people might just hate black metal hate it because it sounds like shit of course!
Adam's rating: 9.1/10


UNDER A FUNERAL MOON          1993          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: 'Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust', 'The Dance of Eternal Shadows', 'Unholy Black Metal', 'To Walk the Infernal Fields', 'Under a Funeral Moon', 'Inn I de Dype Skogens Favn', 'Crossing the Triangle of Flames'
Is it just me or is there no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing which album is best out of Darkthrone's "Unholy Trinity"? I can't find a general consensus anywhere. Understandable I guess, but I do think all 3 albums have their own personality. Personally, 1993's Under a Funeral Moon is my least favourite of the trilogy, but that's hardly a diss. The production has gotten even rawer and more lo-fi, and the music deliberately harsher on the ears. About as "tr00" and "kvlt" as it gets then! I do really appreciate that they kept the bass audible on this album though (courtesy of Nocturno Culto this time around). I find with a lot of underground black metal the bass often gets buried in the mix, but this is not the case here. The bass only adds to the similarly freezing atmosphere. Yep, there's no denying that Darkthrone kept that same feeling of despair that A Blaze in the Northern Sky had going for it. But of course, the fact the production and sound of this record has somehow gotten even more abrasive doesn't make Under a Funeral Moon feel like a rehash of it's predecessor, thankfully.

It may be my least favourite of this iconic trilogy, but I still really like this album. I mean, I don't like the way opening track 'Natassja in Eternal Sleep' randomly fades out - feels like it should go on for much longer! But generally speaking, my issues with this CD are pretty few and far between once again. The riffs may not be as beefy as any of their death metal contemporaries, but the one's on songs like 'Unholy Black Metal' (fucking awesome song title!) go hard. In fact, I'd say the guitars on this album grab me by the jugular and kinda rattle me around for 40 minutes! Some songs and riffs are a bit faster, such as 'The Dance of Eternal Shadows' and the title track. Others are mid-tempo and almost doomy, like the near-8 minute 'To Walk the Infernal Fields'. I also like the way we still hear some lead guitar work on songs like 'Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust', 'Under a Funeral Moon' and the aforementioned 'Unholy Black Metal'. Sloppy lead guitar work, but what did you expect?! Nocturno's vocals this time around are pretty similar once again to his performance on A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Still all the throat-shredding growls you could ever want, but due to the even shittier production (and I mean that in a positive way) it almost feels like there's a layer of distortion over them now. But guess what? It only works in the album's favour once again. Despite the stripped-back nature of the music, Fenriz' drumming is still surprisingly varied and even kinda tight.

I couldn't really give you a specific reason why I don't listen to this one quite as often as I do A Blaze in the Northern Sky or Transylvanian Hunger. I just don't! It's the bridge between the other 2, and it feels like it. It's rawer than Blaze, but not as raw as Transylvanian Hunger. As stupid as this sounds, I find Under a Funeral Moon to be the most... fun of the 3?! I find myself tapping my foot to 'Inn I de Dype Skogens Fabn' (man, that wasn't fun to type)!! It's catchy!! And I'm pretty sure that wasn't Darkthrone's goal when they recorded this album! Yeah! Whatever my thoughts, this is another classic of the metal underground. It's also the last album with Zephyrous. All albums hereon are composed and recorded by the duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto.
Adam's rating: 8.9/10


TRANSYLVANIAN HUNGER          1994          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: Everything on here is great once again.
Well now, this is about as lo-fi and raw as Darkthrone ever got! Transylvanian Hunger is kind of iconic for that reason, along with the instantly recognisable black and white photo of Fenriz on the cover. Even the music itself has gotten more primal, sloppy and repetitive in structure! I mean, the title track itself is essentially made up of 2 riffs and goes on for 6 minutes! So on paper all of this should add up to make one raggedy-ass album, right?! Well yeah, it's raggedy alright! But I, along with so many other metalheads still kinda love it! It's almost like they deliberately went out of their way to create the worst metal album of all time, yet somehow created an unironic classic of the genre! Of course, there's people out there who find this album really boring compared to the last 2 as well, but for me I think Transylvanian Hunger is deserving of it's classic status.

The thing is, the music is memorable. The more repetitive structure of the songs probably has something to do with this of course, but the riffs are great, and once again you even get some minor lead guitars on tracks like 'Skald Au Satans Sol' and 'Slottet I Det Fjerne'. Anyhow, the riffs would still be memorable even if they weren't repeated as often. Whenever I listen to this album, I can remember each of the 8 tracks well. I can't always say the same for either of the last 2 albums (and that's not me slagging them off either). The drumming is relentless from start to finish, and it matches the once again freezing cold nature and atmosphere of the riffs and vocals. Speaking of the vocals, Nocturno Culto's style once again is similar to that of A Blaze in the Northern Sky or Under a Funeral Moon, only it sounds like somebody's shovelled dirt onto the microphone this time! As for the lyrics, well, half of them were written by Fenriz, the other half by Varg Vikernes (the album was only recorded by Fenriz and Nocturno though). Surprising really, because it's Nocturno that actually sings them, yet he had no hand in any of the lyrics or instrumentation this time around. He just does the vocals. Anyway, despite their being no political matter within any of these songs (or Darkthrone in general), edgelord final boss Varg just had to stick a controversial slogan on the back of the original album's pressing. You can look it up on the album's Wikipedia page, but let's just say Fenriz and Nocturno rightly distanced themselves from Varg afterwards and made sure the slogan was removed on all later pressings of the record.

Having said that, I won't call this my favourite Darkthrone album. I love it, but I still find myself returning to A Blaze in the Northern Sky more so than I do this one. I think the reason for this is mostly because there's a time and place for Transylvanian Hunger. Well, there's a time and place for any of the Unholy Trinity, but this being the most unconventional of the 3 gives it little space to breathe. I find that I like hearing it when driving by myself at night, and it's a good listen with headphones on at home, but that's about it really. I don't stick this on in the gym or on a sunny drive! Still, this thing hits the spot when the correct time arises. Peak black metal? Erm, it's not one of my absolute favourites of the genre, but it's up there. You have to hear it for yourself.
Adam's rating: 9/10


PANZERFAUST          1995          (Moonfog)
- Standouts: Again, everything.
This time about a year ago I made a blog post listing great '90s metal albums - great '90s metal albums that weren't the usual suspects on most critics' lists. I included Panzerfaust, because I think it's every bit as good as any of it's 3 "Unholy Trinity" predecessors. In fact, I think Panzerfaust might just be my favourite Darkthrone album - at least of all the one's I own and have heard anyway. Some of the tracks like opener 'En Vind av Sorg' make use of Transylvanian Hunger's principles; it's another extremely lo-fi, simplistic and repetitive piece of true Norwegian black metal. It sounds like it's come straight from said album, and it's just as powerful as anything you heard on that record too. But when track 2, 'Triumphant Gleem' kicks in, you'll immediately notice that Fenriz and Nocturno Culto weren't trying to copy the last album. Nope, this track is RIFFY! Like, riffy in a beefy, chunky, Celtic Frost-y kinda way! These aren't tremelo-picked riffs, they're heavy-ass power chord-y type riffs in more of the first wave black/speed metal sense. And they work! This song slays, but more importantly, it still retains that same atmosphere you want from these '90s Darkthrone albums. The same thing can be said of 'Beholding the Throne of Might'. 'The Hordes of Nebulah' is pure blackened DOOM! It's slow as fuck and droning. 'Hans Siste Vinter' is another raw, cold black metal number that is 100% Darkthrone. The longest song, 'Quintessence', is 7 and a half minutes of doomy, brooding metal. It's superb. 

The production is still lo-fi and demo-like. On the more typically black metal numbers like 'En Vind au Sorg' and 'Hans Siste Vinter', I think this album sonically still sounds relatively similar to Transylvanian Hunger. But the guitar tone on the more traditionally riff-focused tracks is huge; tons of distortion and heavy, but very clearly audible. Nocturno Culto's vocals are mixed maybe a little louder than past albums too. I don't think his approach to vocals here is that much different to his performances on Transylvanian Hunger, even if the production makes them seem different. The only track on here that he doesn't sing on is the last one, 'Sno og Granskog (Utferd)'. This is track sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the album, but that was kind of the point. For the first time, it's a synth-driven song with spoken-word vocals from Fenriz (dungeon synth?). The synths are meant to sound like horns, and even if this is my least favourite track from this disc, it's still weird and unsettling in a good way. The way it fades out so suddenly and abruptly doesn't feel right to me, aside from that it's a song that perfectly matches the tone of the album cover.

Fenriz apparently openly cited bands like Celtic Frost, Bathory and Vader as inspirations for some of the riffs on this album, so that makes a lot of sense. But he still takes into account everything they'd learnt on the last 3 albums and incorporates these elements alongside any of the new influences. It all adds up to create a surprisingly varied album that I never tire of. Riffs aren't really my favourite aspect of a lot of  the '90s Norwegian black metal scene, generally speaking. I tend to like a lot of these bands and records more for their atmosphere and darkness than anything. Panzerfaust kinda offers the best of both worlds - Norwegian black metal and riff-heavy '80s-style first wave blackened metal. It's not number 1 on most peoples' favourite Darkthrone albums list, and I get that it isn't as influential as any of the last 3. But personally I love it!
Adam's rating: 9.2/10


F.O.A.D.          2007          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: 'These Shores Are Damned', 'Canadian Metal', 'The Church of Real Metal', 'F.O.A.D.', 'Raised on Rock'
F.O.A.D. stands for "Fuck Off and Die". That could possibly be one of the greatest album titles of all time, surely?!

I basically said in the Soulside Journey review that Darkthrone are no strangers to experimentation and have always done whatever they felt like doing. Well, that's certainly the case here because while F.O.A.D. does retain some basic elements of black metal, for the most part this is what you'd call 'crust punk'. When I bought this album way back when (I want to say when I was in about 17 years ago), I didn't even know what the fuck 'crust punk' was. I'd literally never heard that term before, and since I wasn't too familiar with Darkthrone other than the fact I knew they were pioneers of Norwegian black metal, I was expecting this album to sound like Transylvanian Hunger. It doesn't of course. So naturally, I barely listened to this CD for a good few years as I didn't really appreciate punk 'til my 20s. I didn't think it was bad, just not my thing particularly. But thankfully it's certainly grown on me over the years. I get it now. And as for the whole crust punk thing, all that essentially means is a mixture of punk and extreme metal. Still not sure what the "crust" part of the name is all about, but whatever!

Really, F.O.A.D. is just Fenriz and Nocturno Culto having a good time and recording fun songs in the studio. A far cry from any of the Unholy Trinity or Panzerfaust, aye, this album is fun and not worth taking seriously! I mean, with song titles like 'The Church of Real Metal', 'Raised on Rock', 'Canadian Metal', let alone the fucking ridiculous album title, then you're doing it all wrong if you approach this album all stern-faced! That said, even though the music is not pure black metal, you do still get black metal-ish vocals from Nocturno on songs like 'The Banners of Old' as well as the odd riff here and there on others like 'These Shores Are Damned'. The production is once again raw and lo-fi, but that's not a trait exclusive to black metal. So while the black metal influences are there, they're pretty minimal overall. For the most part both Nocturno and Fenriz's lyrics are audible (Fenriz performs vocals on 4 of these songs) and quite often clean at times too. The title track's vocals are sang entirely clean for instance, and the music is a nice fusion of hardcore punk and speed metal. Hardcore punk and speed metal, but not in the typical crossover style of bands like Suicidal Tendencies or Hirax, 'cos this is far more dirty and grimy by comparison. 'Splitkein Forever', aside from the vocals, musically reminds me of Black Flag. So don't put this album on right after listening to A Blaze in the Northern Sky in a dark room by yourself and expect the same atmosphere or mood!

Back to the lyrics though, 'Raised on Rock' is hilarious. Hilariously awesome! Check it out:

"You have nothing in common with me
You think old school is 1993
Ha! I've been a thrasher since '84
Almost nothing sounds true anymore

I've made my own code
Sold my soul to Manilla Road
Modern metal — I don't give a fuck
Ooh! I was raised on rock

It went plastic since '94
Oh my God, you're such a bore
If you don't understand what I mean
Fucking listen to Venom's 'Acid Queen'

I've made my own code
Sold my soul to Manilla Road
Modern metal — I don't give a fuck
Ooh! I was raised on rock"

As you can see, the lads don't have the same mindset as they did in the '90s anymore! They're having fun and it's obvious. If they feel like making something dark and brooding, then they will. If not, then we get albums like this!

I dig F.O.A.D.. It's still not one I turn too very often when I'm in the mood for some Darkthrone, because even though they've dabbled a lot with their music over the years, crust punk is not the first genre I think of when Darkthrone comes to mind. This is not one of their classics, but I doubt Nocturno Culto and Fenriz wrote this album with that in mind. The songs are good - lots of fun, but not amongst their best in my humble opinion. Still, it's an enjoyable listen and I respect the hell out them for doing whatever the fuck they want without selling out!
Adam's rating: 7.3/10


ARCTIC THUNDER          2016        (Peaceville)
- Standouts: 'Tundra Leech', 'Boreal Fiends', 'Inbred Vermin', 'Arctic Thunder', 'Throw Me Through the Marshes', 'Deep Lake Trespass'
Now this is cool! It has elements of Panzerfaust in that there's plenty of beefy, meaty doom-style riffs to digest, but with a bit less pure black metal influence, though you do still get traces of that style on a song like 'Burial Bliss'. But most of the black metal influence that is present on Arctic Thunder is more in line with '80s style blackened thrash bands like Venom and early Sodom. There's nothing on here that I would describe as full-on Norwegian black metal. If anything, there's just as much doom, thrash and even New Wave of British Heavy Metal touches to this album as there is true black metal. I like it. I like it a lot!

Opening cut 'Tundra Leech' is a killer slab of blackened speed metal. The riffs kick-ass and Nocturno Culto sounds a bit like Venom's Cronos in terms of vocals. 'Burial Bliss' definitely has a lot of black metal style in it's riffs, but like I was saying, I can't call it full-on black metal. Meanwhile, 'Boreal Fiends' is packed full of doomy old-school riffs, and 'Inbred Vermin' just screams classic Celtic Frost to me! In fact, this album sounds a bit like Venom, Candlemass, Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost thrown in a blender, with the vocals of Nocturno Culto on top! Despite all these outside influences however, Darkthrone always manage to sound like Darkthrone. It's blatantly clear that Arctic Thunder takes inspiration from several different sources, yet you can still tell this is a Darkthrone record even if you've never heard it before. I can back this up again with the title track, which is a far cry from their '90s works. It's built around these insanely catchy NWOBHM-sounding riffs, but it still sounds like Darkthrone to me! Same thing can be said about the crushing doom metal of 'Throw Me Through the Marshes', or the speedy 'Deep Lake Trespass'. I think it helps that they toyed with different styles pretty early into their career; whenever they come out with something different, it isn't particularly surprising. You can't say the same thing about a lot of other bands. The production is a little more fuller-sounding compared to a lot of their older stuff, but you can't call it polished either. If anything, the weightier production here is necessary to bring out the power of the riffs, which feel like the main focus of the songs on this album anyway. It's not atmospheric like Under a Funeral Moon, this time it's more about being as heavy as possible!

I'm not gonna say this is one of their best or anything - final track 'The Wyoming Distance' is a bit bland, sure, but Arctic Thunder is chock-full of endlessly memorable heavy riffage front-to-back. The songs are a nice balance of several old-school metal genres thrown together. You end up with a fine slab of blackened speed/doom metal that only Darkthrone could deliver!
Adam's rating: 8.1/10


ETERNAL HAILS......          2021          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: 'His Masters Voice', 'Hate Cloak', 'Wake of the Awakened', 'Lost Arcane City of Uppraka'
2021's Eternal Hails...... is all about the doom! Well, and other metallic influences too of course, because it's actually quite difficult to accurately categorise Darkthrone these days! So really, this is old-school doom metal with some blackened and NWOBHM influences. Sabbath and Pentagram mixed with Bathory then? Yeah, I think that's somewhat accurate. By default I suppose you're also getting some stoner influence here too, kinda goes hand in hand with doom metal. 

Most Darkthrone albums clock in around the 40 minute mark. Eternal Hails..... is no exception, but this time there's only 5 tracks in total. Unsurprisingly, all of them are long. The shortest is 7 minutes ('Lost Arcane City of Uppakra'), the longest is 10 ('Voyage to a Northpole Adrift'). But I kind of expected this, given the style. Doom metal is often slow and lumbering, and the doomiest track on here is probably 'Hate Cloak'. It's a sludgy lesson in classic doom metal; lots and lots of murky riffs, this time handled entirely by Noctuno Culto. His vocals remind me of Celtic Frost's Tom G Warrior on much of this CD, with the occasional throat-shredding black metal style he's done numerous times in the past. They're great! Meanwhile Fenriz provides the drums on this album, with the songs written by both. Anyway, both guys remembered that doom metal isn't always slow, and there's actually some up-tempo, faster riffing and drumming to be had on tracks like 'His Masters Voice' and 'Wake of the Awakened'. Both these songs make use of fast and slow arrangements, and more importantly is the fact they always flow together seamlessly. There's no jarring switch-up in tempos or anything like that. Everything feels natural, even the ambient approach to 'Lost Arcane City of Uppraka''s outro. No, it isn't the heaviest album of it's kind that you're ever gonna hear, but it doesn't really need to be. It's quite clear that this wasn't their aim - the guitar tones are vintage and overdriven. Distorted, yes. But these tones remind me more of '70s Sabbath than something insanely sludgy like Down or Crowbar. They're heavy in an understated way, if that makes sense - despite many of the riffs throughout being as gargantuan as they are. In general the production is a far cry from the stupidly lo-fi black metal sound of the '90s, but still nowhere near clean enough to be considered "polished". 

Even though I mainly have good stuff to say about this one, I don't love it. I find it to be very nearly great. I'm a big fan of the guitar tones and the vocals, but the songs are quite hard to remember and talk about individually. It's the kind of album I stick on and enjoy, and one with a formula that undoubtedly works very well. I just don't quite feel the urge to revisit this one like I do some of their other later releases (well, of the one's I actually have in my collection anyway)! Very much recommended, especially if you love retro doom. Just not quite essential Darkthrone, that's all.
Adam's rating: 7.9/10


ASTRAL FORTRESS          2022          (Peaceville)
- Standouts: 'Caravan of Broken Ghosts', 'Impeccable Caverns of Satan', 'The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea', 'Kevorkian Times', 'Eon 2'
Like a lot of Darkthrone's later releases, I'm finding it hard to lump 2022's Astral Fortress within a single category. It's kind of a mish-mash of doom and traditional heavy/speed metal with the same blackened tone that lingers on the majority of their releases. It's not quite as doomy as an album like Eternal Hails......, nor is it is heavy metal focused as something like Arctic Thunder. It's kind of in between! Opening track 'Caravan of Broken Ghosts' is almost progressive in that it drifts in and out of being an atmospheric riffy doom metal platter with occasional speed metal tendencies. Personally I think it's a great track. It's long at nearly 8 minutes, but Fenriz and Nocturno Culto effortlessly blend the styles together and take you on a journey with it. Nocturno's singing in that Tom G Warrior, gruff yet clean vocal style once again. No point in fixing something that ain't broke! The doom continues with 'Impeccable Caverns of Satan' - most of the riffs on this track are simplistic but very hard hitting and heavy, and remind me again of Celtic Frost, specifically the song 'Progeny' from Monotheist. 'Stalagmite Necklace' is slow and gloomy in an old-school way, and has some keyboard usage when necessary to elevate the atmosphere. 

The longest song on this album, 'The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea' (how many times can you fit "sea" into a song title?!), isn't quite as odd as the song title suggests - although it does chuck in some psychedelic synth tones in places. For the most part it's a super strong lesson in old-school doom metal, with a long list of largely uncomplicated riffs that never seem to run out. Almost all of them are memorable and despite lasting just over 10 minutes, this song is over before you know it. Quality songwriting folks. Same thing can be said with the considerably shorter 'Kevorkian Times' (it's 4 and a half minutes); it's picks up the tempo again and keeps the songs and pacing of the album interesting, while closing cut 'Eon 2' starts off as a chuggy riff-fest before transitioning into surprisingly melodic, atmospheric slice of metal. The production this time around is fuller than what we got on Eternal Hails....... The guitar tones here are much beefier and have more depth to them than the cold, hollow sound of it's predecessor. I'm not saying that automatically makes Astral Fortress the better of the 2, it just means the band knows what the most suitable approach is with each of their albums. The production worked fine on the last album, and the production on this one makes total sense as well. 

I really enjoyed this one. Maybe they could've switched up the vocals style a little more throughout the album, but generally speaking my own gripes are minor. I found the songs to be more memorable than that of Eternal Hails......, and the mixture of classic metal stylings that Darkthrone like to toy with on these later albums has been handled extremely well. The songs are never dull, and the riffs are great. It's a far cry from their old primal black metal style of course, so if you wanted a return to that style then Astral Fortress won't cut the mustard for 'ya. You can tell from the surprisingly wholesome album cover - a photo of I assume either Fenriz or Nocturo Culto ice skating on a frozen lake - that they're not taking themselves too seriously and probably won't be dressing up in corpse paint ever again! But if you do enjoy their later material, you're in for a treat here.
Adam's rating: 8.5/10 

Blast from the past albums #9: BLACK STONE CHERRY - Black Stone Cherry (2006, Roadrunner)

In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or in my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.

I used to read a lot of music magazines back in my school days - stuff like Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Terrorizer and Ultimate Guitar (well, alright, the last one was a guitar-focused mag, but they reviewed albums too). Around 2006/2007, Black Stone Cherry were getting a lot of press, and I remember their song 'Lonely Train' featuring on a Southern rock-themed freebie CD with an issue of Classic Rock. I loved that song so much I went out and bought this album, which was at the time the only one Black Stone Cherry had under their belt. Since I was still in the early years of my metal/rock obsession at that point in time, I think this album may actually have been one of the first I'd bought from a new band. I was still discovering legacy bands at that point, so yeah - I think this may have been one of the earliest 'new' bands I was into at the time. Well, when I say was "into" them - I actually remember being a little disappointed with the rest of this disc when I heard it. In my opinion none of the other tracks were up to the same standard as 'Lonely Train', except for maybe opener 'Rain Wizard'.

I guess I fell for the hype with this one. I like to think I'm pretty good at avoiding this, although there have been other times where I've caved in and bought an album to see what all the fuss was about (Deafheaven's Sunbather, Trivium's Ascendancy, Machine Head's The Blackening etc.). Don't get me wrong, sometimes all the hype is deserved - but there's something off-putting to me when a lot of people are effectively trying to sell me someone else's record. I still haven't heard anything by Blood Incantation, let alone that Absolute Elsewhere album from 2024 that everyone bangs on about. It's even the same with TV shows - I still haven't seen Game of Thrones!! I'm sure it's great, but I don't care enough to watch it myself! I know, I know - I'm being obtuse!

Anyway! Back to Black Stone Cherry. Maybe they weren't hyped by every rock fan and it was just the UK press, I don't remember. But I do remember a lot of those publications comparing them to legendary Southern rock acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is just insane to me. I'm no Southern rock expert, but it's a genre I still like for the most part. And I suppose I would call myself a fan of Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet, and I do love the odd Skynyrd track too. But BSC don't sound anything like any of those bands to my ears. And I don't know why I was even expecting this 20ish years ago either, because like I said at the beginning of this article, the only song I'd heard was 'Lonely Train' - and that's just a great song that even borders on heavy metal up to a point. I do hear Southern rock influences on the album, sure. Southern-influenced hard rock feels like a better label to me than fully-blown Southern rock. And to be brutally honest with you, I completely jumped off the BSC bandwagon right after this debut - I never bought anything from them that came later. Wikipedia sticks the 'hard rock' badge on them first, with Southern rock following close by. 

Enough of that. Let's talk about the songs. Well, I still love 'Lonely Train'. The riffs are killer, the chorus is simple yet extremely effective and the song in general is just a good rockin' time with commercial appeal too (but not in a negative way). Good songwriting, that's what it is. It still makes playlists for me all these years later, and I do still enjoy 'Rain Wizard' too. Maybe the verses are little lacking, but that massive chorus is really hard not to love. 'Backwoods Gold' too, is simple and maybe even poppy in terms of it's vocal hooks - but it has enough grunt to still be hard rock. Again, good songwriting. 'When the Weight Come Down', despite not hearing it for such a long time, immediately came back to me when I heard it again for this blog post. And it only brought back positive memories, so I must like it! I also kinda like the sleazy cover of the Yardbirds' 'Shapes of Things' - it gives me nice summertime feels for some reason, and I forget I'm even listening to a cover. It fits in so well. Oh, and 'Tired of the Rain' is a gem as well. It makes nice use of '70s-style rock organs, and this track in general feels the most old-school of the lot. Aside from the modern production of course, this is maybe the most classic Southern rock-sounding number of the lot.

And as far as anything else I like about this album goes, well I generally like Chris Robertson's vocals. I won't say he's great (sometimes he sounds like he's struggles on the higher-ranging parts), but he definitely has a unique tone that makes him easily identifiable. That counts for something. Also his and Ben Wells' guitar playing is solid too. The riffs may be a little generic at times, but they never sound bad. The lead guitar work and licks are legitimately good however, and I also like how they throw in riffs that sound more metal than rock here and there throughout the record. They give the songs more balls. The production too, is great. Modern, yes, but not the point where everything sounds over-produced. The guitar tones are really nice and crunchy, and the album as a whole is pleasant on the ears without being too fluffy or shiny.

It's a shame that there's a sizable portion of filler to sit through on this disc. No flat-out shitty tracks - they don't stick out like sore thumbs and do at least continue in the same style as the good songs on here. They're just... a bit boring, and the hooks don't come close to the songs I've mentioned that I do like. 'Rollin' On', 'Drive', 'Shooting Star', 'Crosstown Woman', 'Hell and High Water'... I've just sat through this record and I can't remember how any of them actually go. I'm a metalhead first and foremost, so hooks aren't everything to me - but a hard rock album with mainstream appeal like this needs memorable hooks to be good in my opinion. And these songs just don't have 'em, whereas the best ones do.

A bit of a mixed bag this one. I still think 'Lonely Train' is the best song on here, but there's a bunch of others that are really good too. And thankfully nothing on here is downright embarrassing or completely unlistenable, but that's still not enough to excuse the fact that there is a fair share of filler to sit through. The album's too long despite lasting 46 minutes in total! Naturally, hearing this disc again for the first time in who knows how long hasn't made me want to go out and buy more Black Stone Cherry albums. I mostly still feel the same way about it now as I did nearly 20 years ago. But hey, it certainly doesn't suck. It just sits somewhere between okay and good!
Adam's rating: 6/10

Blast from the past albums #8: MUNICIPAL WASTE - Massive Aggressive (2009, Earache)

In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or in my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.

My relationship with Municipal Waste is pretty simple. I like them, find them to be hellish fun on stage (they never disappoint live - I've seen them a handful of times over the years), but I've never had much interest in actually collecting their albums. In fact, Massive Aggressive was the first one I ever picked up. I bought it back in 2009 when it was first released, and since then the only other Municipal Waste album I've bought is 2012 The Fatal Feast. It's not that I find their albums are weak per se, I just never felt the urge to buy more of them. And it has nothing to do with the fact they're a thrash/crossover metal band - for example, a lot of Hirax's albums are made up of similarly short bursts of crazy thrash (minus the humour) and I own plenty of their releases. I guess MW are just a band I like, but don't love!

Anyhow, I'm listening to Massive Aggressive again for the first time in fuck knows how many years, and I'm digging it right now. The songs are kind of hard to distinguish from one another - other than the stupidly catchy 'Mech-Cannibal' and maybe the punky mania of 'Media Skeptic', this album sort of meshes together as one adrenaline-pumping, sweaty mess of lyrically humorous, comic book-like thrash metal with hardcore punk tendencies. Well, I guess you could say that's crossover thrash in a nutshell? Whatever! The fact the songs all blend together isn't really an issue. There's 13 of them, which sounds like a lot, but the entire album only lasts 28 minutes anyway. Other than the final track, 'Acid Sentence', not 1 of them lasts 3 minutes. One-trick pony albums/bands like this can be excused for this if the music is actually decent, which it is. Municipal Waste aren't going to set your world alight with this record, but if you have similar music tastes to me then you're probably gonna enjoy it too. Which is funny, because on Metal Archives this is the lowest rated MW album with an overall rating of just 55% from 9 reviews. Not that Metal Archives is the definitive place for a general consensus (just look at some of those low-scoring reviews of classics like Master of Puppets or Vulgar Display of Power...), but I find their average review scores to be pretty reliable for most albums outside the really popular ones. I guess the fact I never sank my teeth into Municipal Waste's discography means I have little to compare Massive Aggressive to (apart from The Fatal Feast and a few songs I know from The Art of Partying that is). I've seen this band live several times, and this album sounds just like the stuff they played on stage, therefore it sounds pretty good to my ears!

Aye, the songs are mostly fast and frantic with the odd mid-tempo number (the title track) or old-school style breakdown riffs within them. It's really quite impressive just how many thrashy riffs they've crammed into these short songs, and even if it's difficult to remember them all, they certainly get my adrenaline pumping. I've always thought Tony Foresta's vocals are pretty average overall; he sounds like he's straining a lot the time, but he does at least suit the nature of the music. So I can at least give the vocals a pass, even if I find the rest of the band perform at a noticeably higher level. The production is mostly decent, although I do think the guitar tones are a little on the lighter side. They have kind of a soft distortion/overdrive sound, if that makes any sense?! Like they were trying too hard to replicate '80s guitar tones - but it just doesn't give the songs the balls they could have deserved. Maybe I'm talking absolute bollocks, but there's something that's always never really settled with me in this department. Nowhere near enough to put me off the record, but enough for me to notice. That said, I do like the sound of the drums. They sound human, as daft as that sounds.

What Massive Aggressive seems to remind me most of, is Suicidal Tendencies' 1987 album, Join the Army. Not vocally of course, because Foresta sounds nothing like Mike Muir. But the intensity of the songs, the riffs and overall tongue-in-cheek attitude of the lyrics always makes me want to listen to that classic ST record straight after. Oh, by the way - I think Join the Army is 1000x stronger than Massive Aggressive. But for what it's worth, the fact Municipal Waste successfully manage to remind me of another album I love does at least put a smile on my face. And for that reason I still think Massive Aggressive is a good time overall. I don't think my opinion of it has changed much since I first bought it back in 2009 - I still have no urge to get on Ebay right now and start seeking out more of their stuff, but at the very least it scratches the crossover thrash itch for me.

In the picture is my special edition box set. In it comes the CD jewel case, a patch that was sewed onto my battle jacket back in 2009, some pin badges and a sweatband that I've lost. 
Adam's rating: 7/10