DARKTHRONE - A Blaze in the Northern Sky CD review

DARKTHRONE - A Blaze in the Northern Sky CD
label: Peaceville Records
released: 1992 (Reissued and remastered in 2003 as a digipak featuring a video interview clip)
track listing:
1. Kathaarian Life Code
2. In the Shadow of the Horns
3. Paragon Belial
4. Where Cold Winds Blow
5. A Blaze in the Northern Sky
6. The Pagan Winter


COMMENTS:

Last night the temperature outside dropped to a brisk 30 degrees. I loved it and thought it would be a perfect time to drag this one out for a blast. My appreciation for Black Metal in general stems from an inner hatred and disgust for many things in this world. While I might not be able to release my inner demons for eventually incarceration purposes. I can listen to music which screams hatred with every riff, drumbeat and harsh vocal. Like many people my introduction to this band came through their Transylvanian Hunger release. That CD is a masterpiece in atmospheric terror. But for those with sensitive dispositions it can be a tough introduction into the depraved world of Black Metal. I on the other hand must have ice in my veins because I think it's one great release.

But I'm here to write about A Blaze in the Northern Sky. This was DARKTHRONE's second album but it was their first Black Metal release and it was also their transition from a Death Metal band into a Black one. It's a cold, cruel, and miserable release, heavily influenced by the likes of HELLHAMMER/CELTIC FROST and early BATHORY. The production is drowned in a vat of fuzz. The guitars have been turned into taser-like devices of torture. Nocturno's vocals sound like emanations from a possessed throat cancer patient who's been restrained for his own safety. The bass playing is somewhat audible. Fenriz sounds like he's drumming with two clubs. And with all that said I still consider it a brilliant piece of work.


After the eerie sounding opening which sounds like a walk down a corridor of no return with Gregorian chants backed up with Fenriz's thundering club-like pounding, the release opens with "Kathaarian Life Code". The song kicks in like walking into a room unexpectedly while some sadistic ritual is being performed. I wish I had a dime for every time that's happened to me. "Kathaarian Life Code" is a lengthy song but there's enough tempo changes that feel like you're being pummeled by wooden clubs. At times it's sludgey doom creeping out from some hellish pit. Then it erupts into a blastbeat nightmare. This is followed by one of my favorite cut on here, "In the Shadow of the Horns". A mid-paced tune that has an hypnotic pattern to the riffs until it turns violent and ugly passed the halfway point. Some atmospheric acoustic guitar is over-dubbed onto the end giving the song an interesting climax. I like to hear this first thing in the morning so it sticks with me all day.


"Paragon Belial" is a wall of unholy noise and a song with enough doom overtones to punish people with. "Where Cold Winds Blow" is another extreme favorite cut on here. Besides the subject matter alone to me it's like a cold hand welcoming me into "their world". It's also that breakaway point on the album where the first wave of Black Metal is left behind and we are introduced to the Second Wave forever. It's a faster cut than the previous ones which also contains some spleen cutting solos by Nocturno. His vocals are even more sadistic. The title track follows it up with the same pattern as before. A furious assault to start with and then slowing things down just enough to balance your sanity on the head of a pin. But that's only until Nocturno screams "The next thousand years are OURS!" The minds of the weak are ruined beyond repair at this point. Only the strong ones will survive what comes next.The final cut "The Pagan Winter" drops you into a cold desolate landscape of no return. The release ends as it began with a walk out the corridor filled with Gregorian chants and pounding drums.



RECOMMENDATIONS:

Seriously once you've gone through A Blaze in the Northern Sky there is no turning back to your safe and sedate pathetic little world. You either join or suffer. After I've listened to this I find myself totally disgusted with people. Primarily those who thrive on drama and needyness to survive. I'd like to drop them all into a pit with this and see how long it would take for them to slit their wrists for real. It's not the music which conjures up these thoughts. They've been their forever and the music simply un-clutters the mind so to think clearly.

WEBSITES:

http://www.darkthrone.no

http://www.myspace.com/officialdarkthrone