DARKTHRONE

Reviewed:
- Soulside Journey (1991)
- A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)


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 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 this style of music. 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. Death metal legends Cannibal Corpse have the whole gore and horror schtick, but anyone sane person knows it's just a gimmick for them. Same thing with black metal. 

Or it could just be that the people who hate black metal hate it because it sounds like shit of course!
Adam's rating: 9.1/10