Darkthrone
April 11, 2010 by ken
Filed under Bands, CD Reviews, Darkthrone, Metal, Music, Reviews
Circle The Wagons by Darkthrone (Peaceville Records)
The first Black Metal album to ever infect my jaded ears was Transylvanian Hunger by Darkthrone. Although this was actually the second wave of the much-heralded Norwegian Black Metal movement, Darkthrone rapidly rose from obscurity with their intensive genre classics. This being said, latter day Darkthrone sounds almost nothing like days of past transgressions.
Circle The Wagons is Darkthrone’s 14th epic of madness, and their wild mixture of speed metal and crust punk is sure to endure them to a whole new collection of fans. It sounds like someone in the band has been listening to A LOT of Motorhead and The Damned, the overall result being one of the most exciting albums Darkthrone has ever unleashed.
Old time black metal stalwarts may find this confusing, but Darkthrone has moved on and are now recording it all down, dirty and filled with grit and venom. They’ve been trekking this way for a few albums now, and Circle The Wagons continues the musical journey towards a more punk rock state of mind.
The disc kicks off in a glorious way with the dark, attitude-ridden anthem The Treasures Will Never Befall You – a cut that would surely send any slam pit into overdrive. I Am The Grave Of The 80’s is another highlight, a wildly infectious tune you’d half expect a band like The Germs or The Adolescents to perform. The title track features some surprisingly deft, clean vocals that send the material into a wonderfully ironic realm. I Am The Working Class is another fully charged rocker that is destined to become a modern day Darkthrone classic. Eyes Burst At Dawn is tenacious masterwork while Brann Inte Slottet closes the disc out on a thrashing instrumental note.
Nocturno Culto and Fenriz continue to record whatever they damn well please and that’s all you need to know. And while Circle The Wagons is a far cry from A Blaze In The Northern Sky or Soulside Journey, the Darkthrone experience remains a wonderfully subversive ride through some rather intriguing musical minefields. Darkthrone may never play live, but crank Circle The Wagons up to ten, and create your own imagined circle pit within the walls of your own feverish mind.
(Review by Kenneth Morton)
Darkthrone on Myspace
Alas! These last two albums by the mighty Throne have been EPIC!! It’s been a loooong journey with these guys – I have been ecstatic about their new flow! The BM of the 90’s is tired and played, it’s tapped out. Now we feel a whole new breath of angst and pain!
If you don’t like it, good! You obviously have taste issues and positively NO appreciation of the real journey this band has taken us on!
The new stuff is a refreshing fist in the face! I’m loving it and I do not love much of anything in today’s metal vein!!
Eternal Hails and Thanks for the return!! “Ancient fire is burning in meeee-uh”!!!!