Darkthrone
Transilvanian Hunger
[Peaceville]
Darkthrone is the essential black metal band. Anyone who has put considerable
energy in listening to their records (which is essential to a black metal
record, since it is music that listens to you instead of the other way round)
is impressed. But their records always differ from each other. "Soulside
Journey", a cold, void death metal album was followed by "Ablaze In The
Northern Sky", one of the first "modern" black metal album. It hit the
underground like a bomb. It was their most "heavy" album (well, I'm not
familiar with "Total Death" except one track, but I heard that that album
was just competent, and not fucking excellent like all their other releases).
"Under A Funeral Moon" came next, a horrid, dark, raw and ugly black metal
album. I will elaborate on "Transilvanian Hunger", my personal favorite,
later. "Panzerfaust" is a homage to the first wave of black metal, it is the
ugliest of their releases.
"Transilvanian Hunger" on the other hand is cold and dark, and cold, extremely cold. It already starts with the front cover, the most intense black metal picture that I know of: Fenriz in corpsepaint, with five candles, seemingly screaming. It is a black and white picture and I think they used a special kind of film; the picture looks very primitive. It would be even more primal if they would've left out the band logo and album title, but that is the only point of "criticism" this album has. Beware!
The music is totally opposite to every ideal of "beauty", "happiness" and "positiveness" that the greater part of bands try to put into their music. It is totally ugly, raw, and extremely prejudiced towards your ears. The production has a thick and raw guitar sound, with the constant blast beat thumping of Fenriz in the background. I don't know who's doing the vocals, since the booklet doesn't mention anything about who did what part of the music (except the lyrics). They are lower pitched and more "controlled" than on their previous first albums. Perhaps Fenriz did them himself? Anyway, where Nocturno Culto sounds like a madman and a perverted maniac on previous albums, this voice is that of an ageless wisdom, it is the voice of the black hole that resides within us. It is the voice of the beast, of the wolf. It is articulated, coherent and _evil_.
The "songs" are just patterns of almost endlessly repeating low-tuned guitar riffs with a constant blast beat pummel, and so this album seems like one long song, an ambient-like experience (do not think, however, that this is easy-listening!!). The black metal runs free, and every time I listen to this album (like I'm doing now) I wonder how people can be so feral, such animals. For all the musical and technical factors combined with the spiritual energy of the makers turn this album into an animal itself. This is cold, void reality, and if you are scared by this, just don't listen to this album because it is simply too strong. It is the most intense album I know of, the coldest, darkest, and blackest experience you can have. A personal word of advice: try this with soft drugs (an unforgettable experience).
© 1999 dwaallicht
"Transilvanian Hunger" on the other hand is cold and dark, and cold, extremely cold. It already starts with the front cover, the most intense black metal picture that I know of: Fenriz in corpsepaint, with five candles, seemingly screaming. It is a black and white picture and I think they used a special kind of film; the picture looks very primitive. It would be even more primal if they would've left out the band logo and album title, but that is the only point of "criticism" this album has. Beware!
The music is totally opposite to every ideal of "beauty", "happiness" and "positiveness" that the greater part of bands try to put into their music. It is totally ugly, raw, and extremely prejudiced towards your ears. The production has a thick and raw guitar sound, with the constant blast beat thumping of Fenriz in the background. I don't know who's doing the vocals, since the booklet doesn't mention anything about who did what part of the music (except the lyrics). They are lower pitched and more "controlled" than on their previous first albums. Perhaps Fenriz did them himself? Anyway, where Nocturno Culto sounds like a madman and a perverted maniac on previous albums, this voice is that of an ageless wisdom, it is the voice of the black hole that resides within us. It is the voice of the beast, of the wolf. It is articulated, coherent and _evil_.
The "songs" are just patterns of almost endlessly repeating low-tuned guitar riffs with a constant blast beat pummel, and so this album seems like one long song, an ambient-like experience (do not think, however, that this is easy-listening!!). The black metal runs free, and every time I listen to this album (like I'm doing now) I wonder how people can be so feral, such animals. For all the musical and technical factors combined with the spiritual energy of the makers turn this album into an animal itself. This is cold, void reality, and if you are scared by this, just don't listen to this album because it is simply too strong. It is the most intense album I know of, the coldest, darkest, and blackest experience you can have. A personal word of advice: try this with soft drugs (an unforgettable experience).
© 1999 dwaallicht