Metal Archives

I'm not going to beat a dead horse and cry "oh Satyricon sold out, blah blah blah". The facts are the facts, and if they chose to move towards a more commercial style, then that's part of their evolution and I ain't losing sleep over it. What I can say is the early years of Satyricon did have four majestic cult releases that set a fire under the ass of many a metalhead, making arm and neck hairs stand on end and causing goose bumps aplenty. Yes, Satyricon has that effect on me every time I listen to them, especially "The Shadowthrone", which would be Satyricon's second full length. Most will say "Nemesis Divina" is their best and I'll say it was their high point, but atmosphere-wise "The Shadowthrone" beats it by a mile (or kilometer). In this review I will go by my favorite songs rather than the dreaded track by track.

First things first, the cover art is well-fitting and is simplistic in the fact that it pretty much describes "The Shadowthrone" by a picture of what appears to be a tree in a darkened forest and is on the back of the tray as well. A picture of Satyr taken by Fenriz on their mountain trip is on the back of the actual cover, inside is Samoth with a backdrop of ice-covered mountains, and Frost is decked out in corpse paint with a totally black background. The last page of the booklet is one of my all time favorite paintings (my first is Darkthrone's "Transilvanian Hunger's" "Ferdasyn") of a dark forest at night, the purple sky reflecting off the water and a Viking overlooking all of this. Why talk about all of this, you may ask? Well, the art is just as important to the music as the instruments are and the problem with a lot of "today's music" (cliche) is artists don't take enough pride in this alone.

Opening song "Hvite Krists Dod" is a akin to a blasting furnace with the fury contained therein. The icy coldness of Satyr's vocals, the frozen riffs played by both Satyr and Samoth (who handles bass as well as guitar), and the thunderous blasts of Frost's drums make this track a great way to open "The Shadowthrone"; nothing else will do. You really can hear the evolution take its course from where "Dark Medieval Times" ended and see why this alone makes "The Shadowthrone" a winner. The choir at the end of the song fits perfectly and doesn't sound corny, but dark and menacing. Also, the grand piano synchronizes with the riff extremely well so much so that still to this day I haven't heard better.

"In The Mist By The Hills" opens with a memorable riff which repeats constantly throughout the song as the tempo changes at times faster and others slower. Here is where we really see Frost shine through as a talented skinsman that no lie shall I utter and the blasts on this song destroyed my speakers in my Sentra, seriously. This is a very catchy song and it may take you only one or two listens to memorize the lyrics word for word.

"Vikingland" is my next favorite track at number four, and to some this is their least favorite. It is a rather short song for Satyricon, but it makes up for length in sheer power. Satyr's choir is present here just like "Hvite Krists Dod" and again is used sparingly yet enough to make an impact on the listener. Obviously "Vikingland" is Satyr's description of Norway and does have a very archaic feel to it. The point of these songs is to create pure Norwegian atmosphere and here it is definitely present.

My next pick is the next track, "Dominions Of Satyricon", and is one of my favorite Satyricon songs ever. The synth alone here is powerful enough to stand by itself and the opening riff follows it on point. The samples of wind also have an impact as well and again we witness the intensity of the fallen angel named Frost. This is one of the most epic songs by Satyricon and definitely the most epic on "The Shadowthrone". A very memorable song indeed.

The songs "Woods To Eternity", "The King Of The Shadowthrone", and "I En Svarte Kiste" are also very, very good songs and hold merit to me. "I En Svarte Kiste" is a great instrumental to end "The Shadowthrone" with and just as "Hvite Krists Dod" would be my only choice to open this album, this instrumental would be the closer. Well, here we have it, one of the best funeral synth and black metal albums created and, in my opinion, Satyricon's best album ever. If you're new to their work and would like a starting point, then start with "The Shadowthrone" as each Satyricon album sounds different and is a progression of their evolution. One of the many great Norwegian black metal releases anno 1994, "The Shadowthrone" is a keeper.

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A lengthy intro starts the album, to create an eerie atmosphere, much like a horror score. After a few minutes, you hear a bass line, then the drums, then the vocals come in at the perfect moment, overdubbed with high and low, as the guitar comes in. What a way to begin an album. This is raw, oldschool Black Metal, the way it is supposed to be. The guitar sound is reminiscent of Darkthrone’s Under A Funeral Moon and you can hear influences from that (and Gorgoroth’s Pentagram) on this album. In a way, this could be viewed as a tribute to the Norwegian bands.

Horna employ a variety of tempos here. The first song is really the highlight of the album, as the rest kind of passes by without much notice. Horna's sound is very similar to the early 90s Norwegian scene. If you are a fan of raw, melodic Black Metal then you must pick this up. There is not much that is unique, but it is a solid attempt. There is darkness, melancholy and evil…no meaningless garbage such as later Marduk or something. Fans of early 90s Scandinavian Black Metal, this one is calling your name from the shadows.

The one thing that really bothers me about this is the vocalist. Nazgul aka Satanic Tyrant Werwolf is one of the biggest posers in BM and looks far more comfortable playing guitar for his club-hopping cock rock band. This guy has made a career out of ripping off Bathory (Pest) and Darkthrone (Satanic Warmaster), while being very mediocre at best. Once I get past the presence of this laughable loser, the album is decent.

This album, in effect, is a journey to the abyss and back again. The album starts off with 'Orkkivuorilta' which contains a chilling and, to say the least, exciting 20-second intro of basically just wind. Then you're thrown into the belly of the beast; perfectly shrieked vocals and expert execution of simple riffs create the optimum atmosphere that makes you want to bang your head. 'Orkkivuorilta' changed speed from slower sections to slightly faster than to oblivion and in my opinion if you can do this without making the song extremely boring then it's a success. I've only seen a few bands pull this off; Horna, Tsjuder and Nargaroth; and when you compare it to the likes of Satyricon who are said masters of the genre but failed to keep 'Dominions of Satyricon' alive passed the minute mark, it just proves that Horna are clearly underrated. No other band has had so many consistent releases back to back than Horna and they are the true masters of black metal!

'Imperial Devastation' is very 'Desert Northern Hell' with Horna's edge which makes it epic within the first half-minute. A good strong follow-up to the best bm song of all time and not much else could have followed it in such grace. Through this song alone you can see that the album isn't just a bunch of beats and riffs thrown together with a few shrieks here and there to attempt at fame (like Mayhem's Deathcrush - absolute piss), but the band have clearly spent many a diadem perfecting every second of this album, so that each track flows perfectly from one to the next, which it does.

'Sormus Ja Silmä' is an outright epic and shows 1349 how to create a 13 minute track without it losing interest in the first couple of minutes. The opening riff is pure class and for once, you can hear a bass in a black metal song! PRAISE HORNA FOR THE WONDERFUL BASS! At around 5:30 the track changes into faster beats and Watain-like vocals and when 7:47 hits you know the track is worth 5 stars on your iTunes. Then comes the outro of the song and I’m suddenly thinking of clear influences from Satyricon's 'I En Svart Kiste' and Nargaroth's Introduction on 'Herbstleyd'. The classic ending of some weird man talking in a weird voice with weird poofy music is here, but yet again like 'I En Svart Kiste'. I like it.

Not a perfect release but for a first full-length? Fucking immense. The song 'Örkkivuorilta' alone made Horna's name stand out in my book and this album is a must have for anyone who is into raw black metal perfection! Download it/buy it... I don't care as long as you get it!

Recommended Tracks: 'Örkkivuorilta', 'Imperial Devastation' and 'Sormus Ja Silmä'.

My only complaint about this album is the small amount of tracks and the tiny length, otherwise it's pretty great. I was going to rate this 85/100 but I’m going to add more just for the sheer perfection of the first two tracks.

Black Metal

Great first album of this act from Poland. Raw and original Satanic Old school black metal with some great varying vocals!
With glossy cover!

Black Metal

Christhunt

PICTURE LP
GATEFOLD

Intolerant Black Metal Division of ORNAMENTS OF SIN from France. Here is their release from 2003 that made them very famous in underground ! Inhale it or not, you are already DEAD !!! Beautiful and amazing production. Heavy gatefold and Picture Vinyl ! Limited.

Heidentum takes itself more seriously than Wolfnacht's Night of the Werewolf EP, both in it's colder aural aesthetics and the ideological decision to write ALL lyrics and song titles in German, rather than just some of them. This was not a new strategy for Athalwolf, who had been doing the same on demos for several years prior, but here it works in conjunction with the compositions to invoke what might be the most chilling Greek NSBM record to its day. Other bands like Legion of Doom had been associated with the principles, but Heidentum asserts its convictions like a breath of winter, a crude production standard which functions remarkably well with the cutting rasp of the vocals and the streaming, bloodied guitars which feel like the steaming of lifeblood from the wounds of wolf prey under the frozen eaves of some forsaken forest...

Comparisons to early Burzum, Branikald, or Ulver are not impractical here, though Athalwolf uses a thick, almost death metal bark to his vocals which does often overwhelm the thinner riffing beneath. There are some phenomenal, grim fucking tracks on this one, such as "Licht des Sieges" where its raw guitars meet the subdued orchestral/synthesizer sweeps like a beautiful vortex of falling snow upon corpse-strewn wastes. Or "Heidentum" itself, which is the very essence of the loathing and sorrow that once characterized the 'second wave' black metal of Scandinavians. I was also rather fond of "Der Ritt durch das Land des Eis' und Nebels", from the trumpets and clamor of its intro sample to the cold floes of marching black belligerence. Only one tune here really hearkens back to the punk-metal displayed on Night of the Werewolf, and that would be the closer, a 9-minute experimental piece "Ein dämonischer Winter verhüllt den Schattenturm..." which cycles between raw rock riffs, black metal tremolo rhythms, and curious Gothic-wave sequences in which the melodies really pop out at the listener.

All in all, a fascinating enough album, even if all the songs are not driven home with the same level of writing quality. "Ein dämonischer..." proves that Athalwolf continues to covet his ability to diversify his palette of musical expression, and the primacy of the production values here is sure to thrill fans of that entire nihilistic necro sect of home and lo-fi recordings fundamental to the underbelly of the genre. Admittedly, this has everything in common with the underground of German and Scandinavia, and little to nothing of kinship to the fellow Greek bands, so as a rule of thumb it's not incredibly unique outside of the brief experimentation. But as far as transporting the listener to its frost-tinted worship of the past, it succeeds with some room to spare. Not a 'great' black metal album, perhaps, but a competent debut which remains as fresh as carrion on the scent, and one of the best of Wolfnacht.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com