This album is to many Darkthrone's best and on the other side there is quite many nay-Sayers. Which side do I stand on then, maybe you wonder? Frankly, I neither say it sucks or is the best album created, I am thinking it is nearly their best album because it lack a little of variety. Now, let the review unfold in its own odd way.
This album is a little different from most Darkthrone albums instead of just handling the drums and writing lyrics bandleader Fenriz also took hold of the guitars and the four stringer also to let band mate Nocturno Culto fully concentrate on the vocals. If you ask me this is quite cool. Some may think let a drummer handling all instruments may make it just half-baked, but I think Fenriz does it very well and knows what he is doing on every instrument.
The production is the thing that has provoked the biggest deal of discussion around this album so let's take a look at it. The production is quite normal for a black metal album, but if you compare to other genres it is very rough. The vocals are low mixed, the drums do sound like the drum sound that was common in the 60's and to an untrained ear the guitars just sound like white noise. Nay-Sayers of Darkthrone and black metal in general say the band can't play and sound like they were playing in a garage. Also they do think it was unintentional, but also this is indeed very wrong.
When recording this album Fenriz and Nocturno Culto knew exactly what they were doing, this is not a rush-job in anyway; it is very well crafted and competent. If you listen to Soulside Journey which was released around 4 years earlier, the musicianship is very technical and people do not getting worse at playing over time, right? The production differs greatly from this and "Soulside Journey" (SJ have much more crisp) so that's even much crafted.
Now I suggest we skip train to the vocals. Nocturno's vocal performance differs a lot on most Darkthrone releases and the ones preformed here is my favourite. Here he put so much emotion to them I am astonished. The lyric are very sad and bleak and with lots contributions from Mr. Vikernes makes it even better. With these sad lyrics nothing else then depressed vocal delivery would fit as good. The title track and “En Ås i den Dype Skogen" has some of most sad delivery I have ever had by a vocalist and also some very bleak lyrics. Further than this is hard to explain but they are very good.
As I mentioned above the guitars can sound like pure noise if you have ears that are untrained. It is true that the guitars are fuzzy and distorted as hell, I cannot deny that. In every song the riffs are very similar and changes very little thought a song, and with the tremolo picking they create a whirlpool that drags you into the realm with there is always winter. Although the riffs have the fuzz effect all the time, a lot of melody and true emotion can be traced in almost every song. Even on the Celtic Frost sounding Skald av Satans Sol which is also the catchiest song on the album (unbelievably catchy for a black metal song).
Drums on this album are very fast, composed of simple blast beats and other simplistic beats played in a fast temp. With the dominating guitars it is hard to hear drums sometimes and the sound of the drums are really ugly. Very much similar to a band from the 60's with similar production. If the drums were clearer in the mix it would ruin the hypnotic feel and the album would not be as good as it is.
I don’t have to say much about the bass more than it follows the riffs, but is very much in the background. More bass is not needed but it would be very interesting to hear what that would sound like.
So to sum things up: this is a very good album, but when all songs sound quite similar you may get bored after a while. Apart from that this album is one of the strongest albums of 1994 by one of the best Norwegian black metal bands created.
