Blessed with evil magic, Darkthrone confirm their complete departure from death metal with this forest-fire of a record only rivalled by Bathory's first three outings. Grim tidings once again from Fenriz and company, from the pitch cover and typical black metal woodland scene, to the ghoulish riffs and echoing cries of blasphemy. The Necro sound that the band would make their own shines through here, lyrically it's all vomited out in the true spirit of Norwegian black metal, obscure and cold, alienating and purposefully under produced and with about as much bass as an empty bath. Most of the record is reasonably fast-paced except for my favourite track, the creepy 'The Dance Of Eternal Shadows' which is pure witchery, and the eerie drums are a sound to behold, and thankfully these vibrating booms pepper the record. 'Unholy Black Metal' is certainly a nod to Venom, only pacier, and on the whole it's possibly the record that stands as black metal's defining horror. Scary stuff.
8.5/10
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