Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky

We should honestly feel blessed that we live in the timeline where Goatlord was scrapped in favor of what would go on to become possibly the greatest black metal album of all time, and a personal favorite of yours truly. While early Darkthrone was a death metal band with some occasional experimental tendencies, in my own humble opinion, the band never truly reached the pinnacle of their creative majesty until the abrupt transition into pure Bathory/Celtic Frost worship. A Blaze In The Northern Sky, much like many of the band's works, is unique within their catalogue - there isn't really another album that sounds quite like it and this flash-in-the-pan experience ranks as easily their most technical and frenetic release to date.

Right off the bat, Kathaarian Life Code is a mission statement from Darkthrone. Gone are the death metal days of old, and born is the frigid black metal destruction of the early 90s as the atmospheric intro gives way to a frenzied wall of sound consisting of blast beats, frantic guitarwork and of course, the demonic howls of vocalist Nocturno Culto. Vocally, he has always been lightyears ahead of the rest, giving each album a unique approach, and this album in particular probably holds the largest distinction between what he is doing here, and what he was doing before. The deep death metal growls of A Soulside Journey are gone, replaced by the vastly superior shrieks and howls that are present on A Blaze In The Northern Sky. One thing that's worth noting is that the music feels very loose here, which is a good thing. The album is perfect in it's imperfection, the tempo feels fluid and everchanging, the guitars occasionally miss notes, and everything feels organic. This isn't the hyper compressed, quantized, musically perfect "metal" of the present day, this is real performances by real people, playing songs they wrote themselves with a goal in mind.

Another highlight is In The Shadow of the Horns, a mostly mid-tempo stomper that builds up to a climactic blasting finale. The atmosphere is truly haunting as those acoustic guitars start chiming in over the harsh riffs and rapid fire drumming. It might just be my favorite Darkthrone song because it showcases the best of their sound - the distinction between their slower sound and their more energetic, pure black metal carnage, a sound that is no better showcased than in Where Cold Winds Blow, which is probably the harshest song on the album and wouldn't feel out of place on something like Under a Funeral Moon. The little pauses where Nocturno Culto charges up his voice in what sounds almost like a maniacal laugh leading up to a full-speed-ahead blast beat section really seal the deal for me. The quick establishment of tension and immediate payoff is something that is all over this album and I adore every instance of it.

There is also the slower "bridge" section of the title track, which returns to the intro riff while building upon it with a new lead section. It sounds tremendously dark and sinister, and it always pulls me in even if I just have this album playing in the background. If you're someone who wants to get into black metal, I can't recommend this album enough (or any of Darkthrone's "Unholy Trilogy" of albums). The atmosphere is dark and haunting, with plenty of fun, punk influenced sections that shake up the sound between the haunting slower sections and ice cold black metal. This album is an easy 10/10 for me and will always occupy the space at the top of Darkthrone's diverse catalogue.

Best tracks:
Kathaarian Life Code
In The Shadow Of The Horns
Where Cold Winds Blow
A Blaze In The Northern Sky

Worst tracks:
(There are no bad tracks on this album) -SallGone2

Gimmiemetal made up for that shitty Exciter pressing. This is brilliant, the unholy gods of black metal anoint us with sonic blasphemy. And it sounds so fucking good! Quality is here and the sound is balanced you have a brilliant lofi experience as one would hope for when listening to Darkthrone!

First black metal album ever (next to Burzums debut).