Metal Reviews

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Some nice imagery there!

AHH Finally some real black metal on this site. How dare you soil the presence of this most unholy album with the likes of cheesy power metal and faggy vampire metal ala Cradle of Shit. You show no respect for Darkthrone or what they're trying to do....93...out of 100? Where did this album lose the seven points...when you were distracted by promotions for the new Cradle of Filth album.....please...don't do this again.

As good as ABITNS is, it is not perfect...
When deciding on the score, I consider many things, including the consistency of greatness throughout the entire album.
After having this album for a number of years, I find myself listening to In The Shadow Of The Horns, The Pagan Winter and Where Cold Winds Blow, the others I usually skip. hence the less-than-perfect score, whereas, for instance, Transylanian Hunger would have gotten a higher score, being more pure Black Metal from start to finish.
Another example:
Xasthur's A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors, among others, surpasses this, granted, seminal release in blackness and purity, and is damn near perfect from start to finish...
Is ABITNS a classic? I will concede that it is; I could maybe give it an extra point or two, but that is all.
There are other true BM acts besides Darkthrone, my friend, and many are simply superior. That may be blasphemy to some, but that is my opinion. That being said, Darkthrone are still one of my all time favorites, though they have not really been able to live up to their first three albums
Your Cradle of Filth comment was pretty funny, considering that I am not a fan of theres at all, and cannot stand Dani Filth.
Nice logo, though.
V.

Forgive my aggresively volatile post. But you are right Darkthrone have never been able to match their first three albums....but man o man they are quite possibly the most eeeevil and chilling albums I have ever heard. Them and Burzum take my top spots for Black Metal all stars....with Burzum being the more legitimate of the two seeing as how he wrote one album in jail for murder.

No offense taken, therefore no apology is necessary. I knew there would be controversy with a less than perfect score, it's just that I honestly think that Transylanian Hunger is more evil, their apex if you will.
If you like evil, have you listened to Xasthur - A Gate THrough Bloodstained Mirrors? Not as aggressive as Darkthrone, but pure blackness, nonetheless...
more along the lines of early Burzum, but darker.
I do agree that it is good to see this dark art known as Black Metal get the recognition it deserves; outside of goregrind (which is pedestrian and juvenile sputum, IMO) BM is the medium least likely to be accepted by the herd that comprises the mainstream culture (or, rather, lack thereof), therefore it tends to be more honest and personal; bands like Dimmu and Cradle can never be pure due to the fact that they seem to be interested in reaching a wider audience, tongue planted firmly in cheek the whole time; NO! that is not what BM is about, I think you will agree...
Bands like Darkthrone, Burzum, Xasthur, Judas Iscariot, Mutilation, Vlad Tepes, etc. will never be accepted by any but a few, and that is exactly as it should be.
HAILS!
V.

First off, A Gate Through Bloodstained mirrors is one of the best black metal albums ever released. And, Holy Terror, you should definently check it out if you have yet to hear it. It's everything black metal should be.

And, Valefor, that was the perfect way to say why black metal will never be popular.

AGTBM is in my top three best albums... totally fucking amazing how dark that album is, when listening to, I get utterly lost in the soundscape; it is like it was created just for me, I am sure that you feel the same way when listening to it;
Where in California are you located? I hail from Sac, transplanted (sadly) from Santa Cruz...
HAILS!

Thanks I'll check it out. You guys probably already know about this band but you should check em out if you dont. They're called Isengard and I believe its Fenriz's side project. Not sure though, my friend mike let me listen to it and it chilled my heart....thankfully.

The Isengard from norway (there is one from Sweden as well) is indeed Fenriz' side project, although I thought he sort of abandoned it. It has clean folk vocals but for some reason that doesn't seem to be a problem. The music sounds exellent, folky and pure raw blackness at the same time. Nice band.
As for Xasthur, A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors is even beter (imho) than Telepatic With The Deceased, which is very good at least. The only thing that bugs me is the production, however it may be bad enough, it doen't hurt :( . Maybe it's just what fits depressive BM best anyways...

I agree with valefor on Transilvanian Hunger being better than ABitNS, actually I think it's the best of Darkthrone's unholy trinity and the best Darkthrone album ever. By the way, thanks for all those nice comments Valefor, I'll keep the Black Flame alive!!!

As for Isengard, I think Gast resumed it pretty good, nothing more to be said about it really; maybe only that there are many bands that are higher in my book, but very nice project indeed.

As for Xasthur I agree with Gast, I think that AGtBM is probably the best Xasthur release, although TwtD has grown in me a lot. Anyway, almost any album by Xasthur is a safe purchase.

However a small one, this is my only problem with Xasthur: what good is releasing an album, if it's neither better than, nor different from the albums preceding?

Castro Valley. Which is about a 15-20 minute drive from oakland and about a 40-60 minute one from San Fransisco.

And by the way, Gast, while Xasthur's stuff is aways depressive/atmospheric black metal, every albums it changes a bit and a few new things are tried, for better or worse.

I need to check this one out, seeing as how I found Transylvanian hunger not as good as i expected/hoped.


Well, is this one any different?

Yes, this is quite different. First off, the production is very raw, but not in the way TH sounds. TH has a very focused and in-your-face sound, while ABITNS is a much more typical early 90's Black Metal affair: thin, buzzy guitars, little to zero low end and quite a lot of reverb, especially on the vocals.
Musically, ABITNS is far more varied than TH, consisting of six long songs, each of them displaying a wide range of riffs, tempos and moods. You might like it better, or even less; personally, it still stands as my favourite Darkthrone album.
TH is also rather hard to get into for some, so if you couldn't find anything appealing in it so far, don't fret and give yourself some time. Of course you're not forced to like it, but I feel there's a lot on that album that deserves to be found.

ABINTNS in my opinion is better than Transilvanian Hunger, i think the production is better, easier on the ears

My favorite Darkthrone album.

I just got this on Saturday. I'd recommend it as a good starting point for pure BM, considering that the production is not all that raw, certainly not as raw as I was expecting. One of the best pure BM albums I have heard. Can you recommend me some more Darkthrone, and indeed more of this sort of thing

Unbelievable album!!! Dark, gloomy, creepy voices...Crazy riffs!!! My favorite album of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto (what a ridiculous nickname BTW )

Try first albums of Immortal (especially Diabolical Fullmoon Misticism which sounds similar in case of riffing and atmosphere), also choosing Burzum is a good idea. Early Behemoth, Satyricon are nice too. But first of all, you should pick Under The Sign...by Bathory. This one is a classic, and great inspiration for the 2nd wave of BM

And if it comes to new stuff, I recommend Watain, Deathspell Omega, Salacious Gods