The fading beauty and emptiness of black metal
death metal and black metal | Austin, TX | 01/29/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...With a few notes twisted around a shape that organizes the complex arrangements of simple riff bits that make up these songs, Darkthrone nurtures and explores an atmosphere of darkness, isolation and personal strength. Grinding out resonant melodic fragments in repetition driven by a throbbing techno-influenced style of ambient percussion from mastermind Fenriz, these songs rise to a point of expression and hold it before fading away. The emotion is present without the sentimental immediacy of the way in which rock music delivers its conclusions. Vocals are harsh, production is deliberately and beautifully horrible resounding with broken sound (it sounds like they took some good equipment to a dump outside town, and read the manual to set everything up incorrectly, then recorded), and the music a vast slope of rising perception giving a new energy to significance in life. Like most great black metal bands, this is a combination of the mystical and the gutter-level pragmatic in its manipulation of the listener through minimalist beauty. ... this album also started the "norsecore" trend: playing four-note diminishing melodies rapidly over unchanging drumming. However, this album has actual songwriting, while the imitators have noise and jingle-esque repetition. ..."
Can't deny this classic
J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 09/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"a classic slab of lo-fi cold grim black primitive metal. the atmosphere is bleak and the riffs are so buried and hypnotic. the production (or lack of) is always an issue with most people who love or loathe this band, but personally, i think it suits the music fine and gives it a great harsh edge. people can argue about Darkthrone's production ethics all day as far as i care...but it's the riffs and the guitarwork that keep me coming back to this album for repeated listens. the droning buzzsaw riffs soaked with reverb and distortion and played so fast, but with great skill and an excellent sense of melody (true norwegian black metal melody, that is)."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1