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
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