Darkthrone je kapela, ktorá ma sprevádza väčšinu môjho života. Neznamená to však, že bola vždy mojou najobľúbenejšou, ani že som nekriticky prijímal každý album jeden za druhým. Boli obdobia silnejšie aj slabšie. Bez ohľadu na to, kde som sa práve v živote nachádzal, Fenriz a Nocturno Culto pracovali na ďalšom albume. Dovolil som si o tom napísať pár slov. Tom/EZR
Soulside Journey (1991)
Nahrané: September 1990 at Sunlight Studio (Stockholm, SE), Produkcia/Koprodukcia: Tomas Skogsberg/Uffe Cederlund (Entombed). Vydané: 13th January 1991 (Peaceville VILE22) Zostava: Ted Skjellum (guitars, vocals), Hank Amarillo (drums, lyrics), Dag Nilsen (bass), Ivar Enger (guitars) Zoznam skladieb: A1 Cromlech A2 Sunrise Over Locus Mortis A3 Soulside Journey A4 Accumulation of Generalization A5 Neptune Towers B1 Sempiternal Sepulchrality B2 Grave With a View B3 Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia B4 Nor the Silent Whispers B5 The Watchtower CELKOVÝ HRACÍ ČAS 41:12
Venovanie/Poďakovanie/Odkaz: "Uffe and Nicke and Hammy for making Soulside Journey happen."
Začiatkom roku 1991 som bol siedmak na ZŠ a už 3-4 roky som bol veľmi zanieteným svedkom vývoja extrémneho metalu od môjho prvého stretnutia s 2x12" vinylom Iron Maiden - Live After Death zakúpeného v Poľsku na trhu niekedy v zime 1987. Moja ďaľšia závislosť bol Slayer - South of Heaven, ktorému som totálne prepadol, a ktorého kazetu som z walkmana nevybral celý rok. Ich predchádzajúci Reign In Blood som mal na kazete nahratý v tak zlej kvalite, že nebolo jasné čo je šum a čo gitara a tak som sa k nemu musel vrátiť až o niekoľko rokov.
Býval som v meste kde na sídlisku bola silná metalová komunita - o rok-dva starší kámoši fičali hlavne na Autopsy, Carcass, Death, Napalm Death a Pungent Stench - mne deathmetal cvakol až s Death - Leprosy a Pestilence - Consuming Impulse. Vzápätí nato prišli Immolation - Dawn of Possession a Beherit - The Oath of the Black Blood, ktoré chalani doniesli na pirátskych kazetách z Poľska. Tieto albumy boli zásadné rany do môjho trinásťročného estetického vnímania a spirituálneho vývoja, špeciálne Beherit na mňa pôsobil ako niečo absulútne a zásadne anti-všetko čo som dovtedy považoval za normálne. Master's Hammer na Ultrametale bol tiež skvelý a vtedy som si nedokázal predstaviť, že s Beheritom raz budú radení do spoločného žánru.
V lete roku 1991 sme sa presťahovali z mesta, kde som vyrastal a ocitol som sa v odlúčení od starých metalových kámošov - navyše v okrese a prostredí medzi samými punkermi - ale zato bližšie k Poľsku, kam som pravidelne chodil nakupovať kazety. Tie som doma počúval na otcovom walkmane z 80s a tiež na mono-rádiomagnetofóne, ktorý bol vyrobený asi niekedy v 70s ale hral veľmi dobre.
K Soulside Journey, vydaným ešte pod hlavičkou Dark Throne, som sa dostal až oveľa rokov neskôr. Pamätám si prekvapenie z prvého posluchu, pretože som vnímal Fenriza, ktorý sa roky o Soulside Journey vyjadroval ako o podradnom albume, ktorý podľa jeho neskorších slov kapela nechcela vydať. Pritom sa jednalo o raný death metal, s netradičným využitím klávesov, technickými, dobre zahratými riffmi a kvalitným severským zvukom. Album bol nahratý skôr než debuty mnohých švédskych death metalových legiend, a Darkthrone vlastne o pár mesiacov predbehli dobu.
Referencie:
"We hate that LP. It’s a silly, trendy death metal record." Fenriz (SOURCE)
Wikipedia, Rateyourmusic, Metal-Archives, Discogs
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A Blaze In the Northern Sky (1992)
Nahrané: August 1991 at Creative Studios (Kolbotn, NO), Produkcia/Koprodukcia: Erik Avnskog. Vydané: 2nd March 1992 (Peaceville VILE28) Zostava: Nocturno Culto (vocals, guitars), Zephyrous (guitars), Fenriz (drums, vocals) and Dag Nilsen (session bass guitar) Zoznam skladieb: A1 Kathaarian Life Code A2 In The Shadow of the Horns A3 Paragon Belial B1 Where the Cold Winds Blow B2 A Blaze In the Northern Sky B3 The Pagan Winter CELKOVÝ HRACÍ ČAS 42:05
Venovanie/Poďakovanie/Odkaz: "A Blaze In The Northern Sky is eternally dedicated to the king of black/death metal underground, namely Euronymous."
V roku 1992 som bol prvák na gympli v jednom zapadnutom meste na slovensko-poľskom pohraničí, kde som sa po presťahovaní od svojich kámošov z iného väčšieho mesta cítil ako vo vyhnanstve. Komunistické kádre na škole mi dávali zlé známky za dlhé vlasy a nikto tu nepočúval metal. Spolužiaci na škole boli hudobne a záujmovo úplne mimo a tak som sa kamarátil s chalanmi s učnoviek, ktorí počúvali punk a už v štrnástich rokoch miešali pivo, borovičku a veľké dávky nikotínu. Tiež boli majstri v prepichovaní rôznych častí tváre zicherkou. Nikotínu som v tom roku objavil aj ja a vychutnával si ho pri každej príležitosti na polorozpadnutom múre miestneho cintorína.
V tom čase vydalo poľské metalové vydavateľstvo Metal Mind Records - myslím že ako prvé v regióne - 10 licenčných kaziet, ktoré mali na rozdiel od klasických pirátskych kaziet profi booklet s textami, a fotkami. Kazety zneli super a nedohrával na nich balkánsky pop z predchádzajúcej nahrávky. Na rozdiel od pirátov, ktoré stali tuším okolo 40 ČSK, cena licenčných kaziet bola okolo 100 ČSK, čo nebolo málo (pre porovnanie, bola to cena 5-6 krabičiek kvalitnejších cigariet a niekoľkých pív - ktoré som ešte vtedy nepil, čiže som mal o jednu dilemu menej).
Úplne prvá kazeta, ktorú Metal Mind Records vydali bol Death - Human (MASS 001) no a z tých prvých desiatich kaziet, z ktorých väčšina boli známejšie deathmetalové klasiky, vyčnieval MASS 007: Darkthrone - A Blaze In the Northern Sky. V porovnaní s farebnými, kreslenými gore/satanskými obalmi to bola jednoduchá čiernobiela fotografia, pripomínajúceho starý nemý horror. Ako trinásť-štrnásťročný chalan som zvykol kupovať albumy naslepo, podľa obalov a obal Darkthrone s fanatickým výzorom bielej tváre svietacej z tmy pod pavučinovým logom vzbudil moju pozornosť.
Nemyslím si že som predtým niekde videl corpsepaint. Kazeta Beherit, ktorú som mal zhruba rok predtým bola pirát bez fotiek. Tiež maľované tváre Frantu Štorma a Big Bossa boli skôr úsmevné než by mali vyvolávať hrôzu.
Domáce metalové periodiká, riešili hlavne svetové death a thrashové kapely, ktoré to mali nasmerované do mainstreamu, prípadne ich domáce kópie. Jediný časopis, ktorý od začiatku poskytoval informácie o scéne v Nórsku bol poľský Thrash Em All.
Kazetu A Blaze In the Northern Sky som si kúpil niekedy v lete roku 1992 a okamžite som pátral po ďaľších kapelách a albumoch. Pár mesiacov pred A Blaze ... vyšiel rovnomenný debut Burzum a neskôr v lete aj debut Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. Zhruba v tom čase vyšli aj prvé demá Emperor a Enslaved. Špeciálne Emperor mali hrozný zašumený zvuk, na ktorom si podľa mňa dávali záležať.
Darkthrone na mňa zapôsobili od prvého momentu - horrorové intro a outro, špinavšia produkcia v porovnaní s death metalovým benchmarkom, bzučiace nahalované gitary a rôzne náhodné nedokonalosti, fanatický šepot, škriekanie, mrmlanie a odriekanie, tak odlišné od jednotvárnych growlov. Kompozícia skladieb posunutá od technických a brutálnych riffov smerom ku chaotickému zhudobneniu chladnej a mŕtvolnej atmosféry.
Začínal som rozumieť že extrémny metal sa dá hrať aj bez perfektného zvládnutia techniky nástroja - čo mi pri death metale ako hudobnému samoukovi, ktorý v štrnástich rokoch dostal svoju prvú španielkou s nylonovými strunami, pripadalo nemožné. Sloha a refrén skladby In the Shadow of the Horns boli prvé motívy, ktoré som sa naučil hrať na gitare z počúvania nahrávky. Stále som nerozumel pojmom ako distortion, skreslenie, buster, kombo, atď. Tie mi vysvetlil až o rok neskôr gitarista Protestu Igor Prejsa (RIP).
Dojem z hudby Darkthrone bol umocnený mystériom sršiacim z čiernobielych fotiek, ktoré na malom kazetovom booklete trebalo pozorne lúštiť. Zobrazovali členov kapely v rôznych fanaticky a oddane pôsobiacich pózach - koža, corpsepaint, výrazy tvárí a striktný čierno-biely design. Texty, ktoré mi nedávali zmysel - oproti expresívnej brutalite a perverznosti death metalu som mal pocit, že som svedkom niečoho tajomného, čo ma presahuje na úplne inej úrovni než patológia a gore, prípadne prvoplánové rúhačstvo kreslených pentagramov a obrátených krížov.
Feeling albumu najlepšie pre mňa charakterizuje záver skladby The Pagan Winter od pasáže "For this eternal winter / A new god ruled the sky / The million hands of joy / Have something holy to burn" až po outro. Komu nenaskočia zimomriavky, vie že black metal nie je jeho šálka kafe a môže sa spokojne posunúť k inej hudbe. Napriek skorším stretnutiam s tvorbou Master's Hammer, Root a Beherit, až pri A Blaze In the Northern Sky som začal vnímať black metal ako samostatný žáner a tento album patrí do mojich all-time Top 3 blackmetalových nahrávok.
Referencie:
"We wanted the organic sound of the 70s, while at the same time keeping it cold." Fenriz (SOURCE)
Wikipedia, Rateyourmusic, Metal-Archives, Discogs
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Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
Nahrané: June 1992 at Creative Studios (Kolbotn, NO), Produkcia/Koprodukcia: Darkthrone. Vydané: 15th February 1993 (Peaceville VILE35) Zostava: Nocturno Culto (vocals, guitars), Zephyrous (guitars), Fenriz (drums, vocals) Zoznam skladieb: A1 Natassja In Eternal Sleep A2 Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust A3 The Dance of Eternal Shadows A4 Unholy Black Metal B1 To Walk the Infernal Fields B2 Under a Funeral Moon B3 Inn i de dype skogers favn B4 Crossing the Triangle of Flames CELKOVÝ HRACÍ ČAS 40:41
Venovanie/Poďakovanie/Odkaz: "Thanks to Patrick Engel/Temple of Disharmony"
Na prelome 1992/1993 vyšiel druhý album švajčiarov Samael - Blood Ritual, ktorý znel inak ako nórske kapely, bol pomalší a mal špičkovú produkciou a zvuk. Atmosférou, vokálnym prejavom a tématikou zapadal do novej vlny severskej temnoty.
Thrash Em All priebežne informoval o dianí na blackmetalovej scéne a na regáloch poľských obchodov stále pribúdali nové kazety. V marci 1993 vyšiel v anglickom časopise Kerrang dnes už legendárny black metalový špeciál, ktorý na obale spomínal "satanistických teroristov" a rozhovory s Euronymom a Vargom Vikernessom ako lídrami scény. Padli prvé zmienky o Inner Circle a "black metalovej mafii", ktoré preberali ostatné periodiká vrátane Thrash Em All. Preložený článok informoval o horiacich kostoloch a útokom proti death metalovým kapelám, smrti Deada a historky o tom ako Euronymous zjedol kúsok jeho mozgu. Postupne vyšli albumy Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon a EP Burzum - Aske s obalom zhoreného kostola na obale. Neskôr v lete aj živák Mayhem - Live in Liepzig z roku 1990, kde v booklete boli útržky rohovorov s Euronymom, ktorý spomínal bývalého vokalistu Deada - o tom kvôli čomu žil a prečo zomrel, o dôležitosti estetiky black metalu a jeho vyjadrenia zneli ako blackmetalový manifest.
V prvom polroku 1993 som mal pocit, že sledujem spiknutie blackmetalistov proti spoločnosti. Pribúdali albumy Immortal - Pure Holocaust, Emperor - Emperor, Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times a Burzum - Det som engang var, ktoré boli hudobným soundtrackom k v bookletoch a zinoch deklarovanej zlobe a otvorenému boju proti cirkvi, konzervatívnej spoločnosti - a "komerčným" death metalovým kapelám, ktoré hrajú koncerty v teplákoch a bielych teniskách (ktoré Euronymous premenoval na life metalové kapely). Do môjho šatníka pribudla prvá čierna kožená bunda, ktorú som nosil neustále najbližších desať rokov.
Potom v auguste roku 1993 počas letných prázdnin sa to stalo. Bola nedeľa a s mamou sme pozerali týždenné večerné hudobné správy na MTV, kde odvysielali report zo zatknutia Varga Vikernesa podozrivého z vraždy Euronymousa a podpaľovania kostolov. Varg sa so želiezkami na rukách usmieval do kamery (mama mi hovorí "veď vyzerá úplne ako ty..."). Bol som v šoku. Moji hrdinovia Varg Vikernes a už mŕtvy Euronymous sú na MTV, komerčnej celosvetovej televízii v prime time... Varg Vikernes, zakladateľ Burzum a člen Inner circle zavraždil jeho vodcu a gitaristu Mayhem, ktorému Darkthrone rok predtým venovali A Blaze In the Northern Sky.
Scéna sa v momente rozdelila na dva tábory. Jednu časť neskôr začalo ťahať aj kvôli názorom svojho nového duchovného otca, ktorý miešal tolkienovské ságy s fantáziami o čistej rase smerom doprava. Žurnalisti žhavili perá a kto mal vtedy podnikateľské cítenie, tušil, že to bude veľké. Nič už potom nebolo také ako pred tým.
Rok 1993 zahájili Darkthrone albumom Under a Funeral Moon, ktorý vyšiel v marci. Pamätám si ako som utekal s kazetou v ruke k rodičovskému autu kde som si ju prvý krát pustil kazetu a študoval fotky a texty. Album bol rýchlejší než A Blaze ... a skladby mi pripadali jednoduchšie, ale melodickejšie a chytľavejšie na prvý posluch. Priamočiarosť sa prejavila aj v textoch - od dekadentne romanticky folk horrorovej Natassje vo večnom spánku až po manifest Unholy Black Metal. Album nemá slabé miesto a považujem ho za najprístupnejší raný album Darkthrone. Po geniálnom a rozmanitom, hoci trochu chaotickom A Blaze ... tu kapela vsadila na jednoduchý a účinný songwriting a album, ktorý má niekoľko silných zimomriavkových momentov.
Referencie:
"We don’t perform live because we hate seeing people who are enjoying themselves." Nocturno Culto
"Venom, Bathory and Hellhammer weren’t serious enough in their ideological expressions - they were naïve." Nocturno Culto
"The Finnish black metal scene consists of posers and wimps." Nocturno Culto (SOURCE)
Wikipedia, Rateyourmusic, Metal-Archives, Discogs
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Transylvanian Hunger (1994)
Nahrané: November and December 1993 on Necrohell (portable 4 track recorder), vocals added in January 1994, Produkcia/Koprodukcia: Fenriz. Vydané: 17th February 1994 (Peaceville VILE43) Zostava: Fenriz (all instruments and vocals), Varg (lyrics on side B) Zoznam skladieb: A1 Transylvanian Hunger A2 Over fjell og gjennom torner A3 Skald av Satans sol A4 Slottet i det fjerne B1 Graven tåkeheimens saler B2 I en hall med flesk og mjød B3 As Flittermice as Satans Spys B4 En ås i dype skogen CELKOVÝ HRACÍ ČAS 39:04
Venovanie/Poďakovanie/Odkaz: "Darkthrone is for all the evil in man"
Po vražde Euronyma sa v severnej a západnej Európe dostal black metal na predné stránky médií, u nás som si nič podobné nevšimol. Žil som v izolácii na slovensko-poľskej hranici a nepoznal som vo svojom okolí nikoho koho by zaujímal blackmetal. Moji rovesníci, ktorí boli hudobne naladení riešili alternatívu a indie rock, najbližší kámoši počúvali len československý punk a jediný s kým som riešil extrémny metal (a knihy Stephena Kinga) formou listov bol Crom z Bratislavy, s ktorým som sa poznal ešte z 80s.
Kazety som počúval na otcovom walkmane hoci som sa dožadoval lepšej audiotechniky. Na vianoce 1993 som dostal svoj prvý dvoj-deck značky Panashiba s farebnými svetielkami... Hneď v prvý večer mi požul kazetu Cannibal Corpse a ráno ho našli rodičia v kuchynskom smetnom koši. Rodičia pochopili gesto a začiatkom roku 1994 kúpili stereo vežu Panasonic s CD prehrávačom, dvoj-deckom. Navyše sa mi podarilo presvedčiť starých rodičov, aby mi kúpili z miesteho úradu pozostatok socialistkej svadobnej kapely - gitaru značky Diamant, československú kópiu Les Paul. Dozvedel som sa, že na gympli dvaja o dva roky starší spolužiaci mali kapelu, ktorá hrala hard-rock v štýle Alkehol a zhruba pol roka som s nimi skúšal - koncert sme nikdy nemali.
Rok 1994 priniesol okrem rozkolu na nórskej blackmetalovej scéne aj niekoľko veľmi zásadných albumov, ktoré ostali neprekonané dodnes. Najprv to bolo februarové vydanie Darkthrone - Transylvanian Hunger a niekoľko dní na to Emperor a ich debut In the Nightside Eclipse. V marci vyšiel Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, s nanovo nahratou basou. Pôvodnú nahral Varg Vikernes ako hosťujúci muzikant a kapela ju dala z pochopiteľných dôvodov preč. V apríli vyšiel Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, nahratý pred vraždou Euronyma a pôvodne plánovaný ako ďaľší release na Euronymovom labeli Deathlike Silence Productions, avšak vydaný na anglickom labeli Misanthropy Records. Všetky štyri albumy tvoria vrchol nórskeho black metalu, alebo druhej vlny black metalu - každý svojím vlastným spôsobom.
Transylvanian Hunger, ktorý nie je mojim najobľubenejším album z katalógu Darkthrone, redukoval predchádzajúce hudobne rozmanité a zaujímavé albumy na surový, primitívny, lo-fi hluk s repetetívnymi dvoj-troj tónovými riffmi, rýchlymi bicími a monotónnym spevom. Z kazety, na ktorú som sa tešil som bol mierne sklamananý - neboli na nej žiadne fotky kapely, minimum informácií a skladby v nórštine a minimum zaujímavých hudobných nápadov. Tento album potvrdil hranice môjho hudobného vkusu, primitívny šumiaci na kosť ohlodaný raw black metal u mňa nevytváral mysteriózny pocit a tajomnú atmosféru ako predchádzajúce dva albumy.
Naopak, In the Nightside Eclipse, hoci tiež so zlým zvukom, ponúkal úplne iný level hudobnej "hmoty". Rozmanité, rozsiahle a komplikované skladby s výraznými melódiami. Bohaté využitie kláves malo za výsledok epický dojem a majestátno-veľkolepú atmosféru nekonečného kozmického priestoru.
De Mysterii Dom Sathanas bol hudobne špičkový, síce bez kláves, ale s rituálno-horrorovými spevmi, z gitarových riffov a zvuku sršala agresia a napätie. Bicie boli z iného sveta. Aura dvoch zosnulých bývalých členov sa vznášala nad albumom, ktorý aj bez toho pôsobil na mňa pochmúrne a paranoidne.
No a na záver Hvis lyset tar oss bolo minimalistický, depresívny - už aj kvôli obalu - pomalý a nadupaný atmosférou. Vargov škrek na ňom bol extrémny. Použitie klávesov a ambientných plôch vytváralo atmošku zimy a izolácie, s ktorým so sa vzhľadom na môj pobyt mimo civilizácie vedel úplne stotožniť.
V skratke, rok 1994 bol vrcholom druhej vlny black metalu vďaka štyrom albumom, z ktorých všetky zadefinovali rôzne odnože black metalu na dlhé desaťročia dopredu. Hudobná a kriminálna bilancia na záver roka bola: štyri zásadné kapely so štyrmi zásadnými albumami, z ktorých traja muzikanti poputovali do chládku - Varg Vikernes na 21 rokov za vraždu, Samoth z Emperor na 16 mesiacov za podpálenie kostola Skjold a Faust z Emperor na 14 rokov za vraždu. Darkthrone fungoval zvláštne, veď Transylvanian Hunger nahral Fenriz sám a Mayhem skončili bez hlavného mozgu kapely a v hlbokom štádiu rozkladu. Pokračovanie kapiel a ďaľšie vydania boli vysoko nepravdepodobné.
Referencie:
"The Oslo and Norwegian black metal scene is important to me. I admire it. Grishnackh is not really a part of it because he has other interests. Since he had to go to prison, I thought I could let him speak through DARKTHRONE with a few lyrics." Fenriz (ABLAZE 1995)
Wikipedia, Rateyourmusic, Metal-Archives, Discogs
Ak chcete podporiť JDØS vyberte si niečo z DISTRA. Ak sú ceny pre vás privysoké, napíšte mi e-mail: jablkadalekoodstromu@gmail.com, určite sa dohodneme. Ak máte feedback na ktorýkoľlvek z článkov, alebo by ste chceli niečo povedať pre JDØS, napíšte mi tiež.
Vďaka za support, Tom/EZR
Venované pamiatke Andrewa Orlocka (1984-2019).
Darkthrone is a band that has accompanied most of my life. That doesn’t mean, however, that they were always my favorite, or that I uncritically accepted every album one after another. There were stronger periods and weaker ones. Regardless of where I happened to be in life at the time, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto were working on another album. I allowed myself to write a few words about it. Tom/EZR
Soulside Journey (1991)
Recorded: September 1990 at Sunlight Studio (Stockholm, SE), Produced/Co-Produced: Tomas Skogsberg/Uffe Cederlund (Entombed). Released: 13th January 1991 (Peaceville VILE22) Lineup: Ted Skjellum (guitars, vocals), Hank Amarillo (drums, lyrics), Dag Nilsen (bass), Ivar Enger (guitars) Tracklist: A1 Cromlech A2 Sunrise Over Locus Mortis A3 Soulside Journey A4 Accumulation of Generalization A5 Neptune Towers B1 Sempiternal Sepulchrality B2 Grave With a View B3 Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia B4 Nor the Silent Whispers B5 The Watchtower TOTAL PLAYING TIME 41:12
Dedication/Thanks/Message: "Uffe and Nicke and Hammy for making Soulside Journey happen."
At the beginning of 1991 I was in seventh grade of elementary school and had already spent three or four years obsessively following the evolution of extreme metal since my first encounter with Live After Death by Iron Maiden, bought on a Polish marketplace sometime during the winter of 1987.
My next addiction was South of Heaven by Slayer, a cassette I practically never removed from my walkman for an entire year. I also owned a copied tape of Reign in Blood, but the sound quality was so terrible that it was impossible to tell what was hiss and what was guitar. I had to rediscover that album years later.
I lived in a town with a strong metal community around the housing estates. The older guys were mainly into Autopsy, Carcass, Napalm Death and Pungent Stench, but death metal only truly clicked for me with Death - Leprosy and Pestilence - Consuming Impulse.
Soon after came Immolation - Dawn of Possession and Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood, brought from Poland on pirated tapes by older friends. Those albums hit my thirteen-year-old aesthetic and spiritual perception like a truck. Especially Beherit - it felt completely anti-everything I had considered normal until then.
Master's Hammer on Ultrametal was amazing as well, though at the time I could never have imagined they would one day be categorized in the same genre as Beherit.
In the summer of 1991 we moved away from the town where I had grown up. I suddenly found myself isolated from my old metal friends, surrounded mostly by punks — but also much closer to Poland, where I regularly went cassette shopping. At home I listened to them on my father’s 1980s walkman and an ancient mono radio-cassette recorder from what must have been the 1970s, although it actually sounded surprisingly good.
I only discovered Soulside Journey many years later, back when the band still used the name Darkthrone as “Dark Throne.” I remember being surprised because I had always heard Fenriz dismiss the album as an inferior death metal record the band supposedly never even wanted to release.
Yet what I heard was excellent early death metal: technical riffs, unusual keyboard arrangements and a powerful Scandinavian sound. Considering the album was recorded before the debuts of many Swedish death metal legends, Darkthrone were actually ahead of their time by several months.
⏭️ ⏭️
A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)
Recorded: August 1991 at Creative Studios (Kolbotn, NO), Produced: Erik Avnskog. Released: 2nd March 1992 (Peaceville VILE28) Lineup: Nocturno Culto (vocals, guitars), Zephyrous (guitars), Fenriz (drums, vocals) and Dag Nilsen (session bass guitar) Tracklist: A1 Kathaarian Life Code A2 In The Shadow of the Horns A3 Paragon Belial B1 Where the Cold Winds Blow B2 A Blaze In the Northern Sky B3 The Pagan Winter TOTAL PLAYING TIME 42:05
Dedication/Thanks/Message: "A Blaze In The Northern Sky is eternally dedicated to the king of black/death metal underground, namely Euronymous."
In 1992 I started high school in a forgotten town near the Slovak-Polish border and felt completely exiled after moving away from my old friends and my former city. Teachers with old communist-era attitudes gave me bad grades because of my long hair and nobody around me listened to metal.
The closest people to me were vocational-school punks who, at fourteen years old, already mixed beer, Slovak juniper liquor and massive amounts of nicotine. They were also experts at piercing parts of their faces with safety pins. That was the year I discovered nicotine myself, usually smoking alone on the crumbling wall of the local cemetery.
Around that time the Polish label Metal Mind Productions released what I believe were the first licensed metal cassettes in the region. Unlike the typical pirated tapes, they had professional booklets with lyrics and photos, and the albums did not suddenly continue into Balkan pop after the final track.
The first release was Death - Human (MASS 001), but among those first ten tapes one stood out immediately: MASS 007: Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky.
Compared to the colorful gore and satanic fantasy covers of death metal records, this looked like something completely different - a stark black-and-white image resembling an old silent horror movie. As a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kid I often bought albums blindly based on cover art alone, and the image of Darkthrone with the ghostly white face glowing beneath the spiderweb logo instantly caught my attention.
I don’t think I had ever seen corpsepaint before. My old Beherit tape was a pirate copy without photos, and the painted faces of Franta Štorm or Big Boss looked more bizarre than frightening.
Most local metal magazines focused on mainstream-bound death and thrash metal bands or their domestic clones. The only publication consistently covering the emerging Norwegian scene was the Polish magazine Thrash 'Em All.
I bought A Blaze in the Northern Sky sometime during the summer of 1992 and immediately started searching for more bands like Darkthrone. A few months earlier Burzum s/t had been released, followed later that summer by Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. Around the same time the first demos by Emperor and Enslaved appeared. Emperor in particular had an unbelievably noisy sound that seemed almost intentional.
I immediately loved Darkthrone's horror-like intro and outro, the dirtier production compared to death metal standards, the buzzing distorted guitars, the random imperfections, the whispers, shrieks and muttering chants - everything sounded completely different from the uniform growling of death metal. The songwriting moved away from technical brutality toward chaotic expressions of coldness and deathlike atmosphere.
For the first time I began to understand that extreme metal could be played without perfect technical mastery. As a self-taught fourteen-year-old who had just received his first nylon-string acoustic guitar, that realization was huge. The verse and chorus riffs from “In the Shadow of the Horns” became some of the first things I learned to play by ear.
At the time I still had no idea what terms like distortion, overdrive or combo amp even meant. Those were later explained to me by Igor Prejsa from Protest (RIP).
The music itself was amplified by the mystery radiating from the tiny black-and-white photos inside the cassette booklet. Leather, corpsepaint, fanatical poses and strict monochrome design created the impression that this music belonged to an entirely different world. Compared to the explicit gore and blasphemy of death metal, Darkthrone felt genuinely mysterious.
For me, the atmosphere of the album is perfectly captured by the ending of “The Pagan Winter,” especially the passage:
“For this eternal winter / A new god ruled the sky / The million hands of joy / Have something holy to burn”
If that section gives you chills, black metal is probably your music. If not, you can safely move on to something else.
Despite earlier encounters with Master’s Hammer, Root and Beherit, it was only with A Blaze in the Northern Sky that I began to perceive black metal as a distinct genre and the album remains one of my all-time Top 3 black metal albums.
⏭️ ⏭️
Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
Recorded: June 1992 at Creative Studios (Kolbotn, NO), Produced: Darkthrone. Released: 15th February 1993 (Peaceville VILE35) Lineup: Nocturno Culto (vocals, guitars), Zephyrous (guitars), Fenriz (drums, vocals) Tracklist: A1 Natassja In Eternal Sleep A2 Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust A3 The Dance of Eternal Shadows A4 Unholy Black Metal B1 To Walk the Infernal Fields B2 Under a Funeral Moon B3 Inn i de dype skogers favn B4 Crossing the Triangle of Flames TOTAL PLAYING TIME 40:41
Dedication/Thanks/Message: "Thanks to Patrick Engel/Temple of Disharmony"
Around the turn of 1992/1993, the second album by the Swiss band Samael - Blood Ritual - was released. It sounded different from the Norwegian bands: slower, with excellent production and sound. In terms of atmosphere, vocal style, and themes, it still fit into the emerging wave of northern darkness.
Thrash ’Em All continuously reported on the black metal scene, and new cassette releases kept appearing in Polish record stores. In March 1993, the British magazine Kerrang! published what is now a legendary black metal special issue, featuring the headline “satanic terrorists” and interviews with Euronymous and Varg Vikernes as scene leaders.
The first mentions of the “Inner Circle” and a “black metal mafia” appeared, quickly picked up by other magazines including Thrash ’Em All. The translated coverage reported on burning churches, attacks on death metal bands, the death of Dead, and stories claiming Euronymous had eaten a piece of his brain.
Gradually, releases followed: Under a Funeral Moon and Aske with its burned-church cover. Later that summer came the live tape Live in Leipzig, recorded in 1990, with booklet excerpts of interviews in which Euronymous spoke about Dead — why he lived and why he died, and about the importance of black metal aesthetics. His words read like a black metal manifesto.
In the first half of 1993, I had the feeling I was witnessing a conspiracy of black metallers against society.
Albums kept appearing: Immortal - Pure Holocaust, Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times, Burzum - Det som engang var, and many others — all of them functioning as a soundtrack to the hatred, rebellion against the Church, conservative society, and “commercial” death metal bands who played shows in tracksuits and white sneakers (which Euronymous supposedly called “life metal” bands).
A black leather jacket also entered my wardrobe — I wore it almost continuously for the next ten years.
Then, in August 1993, during the summer holidays, it happened.
It was Sunday evening and I was watching the weekly MTV music news with my mother, when they aired a report about the arrest of Varg Vikernes, suspected of murdering Euronymous and burning churches.
Varg appeared on screen in handcuffs, smiling into the camera.
My mother said:
“Doesn’t he look just like you…”
I was in shock. My underground heroes were suddenly on MTV, in prime time, on global television.
Varg Vikernes — founder of Burzum and member of the Inner Circle — had killed Euronymous, the leader and guitarist of Mayhem, to whom Darkthrone had dedicated A Blaze in the Northern Sky the year before.
The scene split instantly into two camps. Part of it would later be pulled toward ideological directions influenced by a strange mix of Tolkien mythology and fantasies of racial purity.
Journalists sharpened their pens, and anyone with business instincts knew this would become big. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Darkthrone opened 1993 with Under a Funeral Moon, released in March.
I remember running with the cassette to my parents’ car and listening to it for the first time while studying the booklet and lyrics. The album was faster than A Blaze…, and the songs felt simpler, but more melodic and immediately catchy.
This directness also appeared in the lyrics — from the decadently romantic folk-horror of Natassja in eternal sleep to the manifesto of Unholy Black Metal.
The album has no weak points and I consider it the most accessible early Darkthrone record. After the brilliant but slightly chaotic A Blaze…, the band chose simple and effective songwriting — and created an album full of chilling moments.
⏭️ ⏭️
Transylvanian Hunger (1994)
Recorded: November and December 1993 on Necrohell (portable 4 track recorder), vocals added in January 1994, Produced: Fenriz. Released: 17th February 1994 (Peaceville VILE43) Lineup: Fenriz (all instruments and vocals), Varg (lyrics on side B) Tracklist: A1 Transylvanian Hunger A2 Over fjell og gjennom torner A3 Skald av Satans sol A4 Slottet i det fjerne B1 Graven tåkeheimens saler B2 I en hall med flesk og mjød B3 As Flittermice as Satans Spys B4 En ås i dype skogen TOTAL PLAYING TIME 39:04
Dedication/Thanks/Message: "Darkthrone is for all the evil in man"
After the murder of Euronymous, black metal made it onto front pages across Northern and Western Europe. In our region, I didn’t notice anything like that.
I lived in isolation on the Slovak-Polish border and knew nobody interested in black metal. My peers listened to alternative rock and indie, my closest friends were into Czech and Slovak punk, and the only person I exchanged letters about extreme metal (and Stephen King books) with was Crom from Bratislava, whom I had known since the 1980s.
I still listened to tapes on my father’s Walkman, though I constantly begged for better equipment. For Christmas 1993 I got my first dual cassette deck, a Panashiba with colored lights. On its first night it chewed up a Cannibal Corpse tape and ended up in the kitchen trash the next morning. My parents understood the message.
At the beginning of 1994 they bought a Panasonic stereo system with a CD player and dual deck. I also managed to convince my grandparents to get me a leftover socialist wedding-band guitar — a Diamant, a Czechoslovak copy of a Les Paul. I also briefly played in a school band doing hard rock in the style of Alkehol, but we never played a concert.
1994 brought, alongside the collapse of the Norwegian black metal scene, several essential albums that still remain unmatched.
First came Transylvanian Hunger, followed almost immediately by Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse. In March came Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, with re-recorded bass, as Varg’s original contribution had been removed for obvious reasons. In April came Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, recorded before Euronymous’ death and originally intended for his label Deathlike Silence Productions, but eventually released on Misanthropy Records.
Together, these four albums represent the peak of Norwegian black metal — each in its own way.
Transylvanian Hunger, which is not my favourite Darkthrone album, reduced everything they had built before into raw, primitive lo-fi noise: repetitive riffs, fast drums, monotone vocals. I was slightly disappointed when I first got it — no photos, minimal information, Norwegian lyrics, and very little musical variation.
It also defined the limits of my taste at the time. This kind of raw, stripped-down black metal did not create the same mystical feeling for me as the previous albums.
On the other hand, In the Nightside Eclipse offered a completely different kind of sonic weight: complex, layered compositions with rich melodies and keyboards, creating an epic, cosmic atmosphere.
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas sounded ritualistic, paranoid, and violent — a masterpiece of tension and aggression.
And finally Hvis Lyset Tar Oss was minimal, depressive, and deeply atmospheric. Its winter-like isolation matched perfectly with my own life situation at the time.
In short: 1994 was the peak of the second wave of black metal, defining multiple subgenres for decades to come.
The music and criminal record of that year speaks for itself: four essential albums, three musicians sent to prison — Varg Vikernes for murder (21 years), Samoth for church burning (16 months), and Faust for murder (14 years). Darkthrone itself was effectively a one-man project on Transylvanian Hunger, and Mayhem had collapsed completely.
Continuation of these bands suddenly felt highly uncertain.
If you want to support JDØS, choose something from THE DISTRO. If the prices are too high for you, write me an email at jablkadalekoodstromu@gmail.com - we will definitely find a way to agree. If you have feedback on any of the articles, or if you would like to say something for JDØS, feel free to contact me as well.
Thanks for the support, Tom/EZR
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