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Darkthrone: Dark Thrones and Black Flags
review by ©Scarlet Metal of www.scarletmetal.com
December 6, 2008


Dark Thrones & Black Flags is what's spinning in the witch ghetto this evening.
Punk crusted necro n' roll anti-atmosphere like no other has thrashed my world
straight to Hel! There's been a whole lotta tossing out into the alley way going
on here lately but this one's a keeper. Darkthrone's sound remains the same lo-
fi throughout, only the tracks have stepped up a level or two in compositional
excellence. The 80's worship of F.O.A.D. overflows into this latest release and
once again Fenriz uses just the right golden vocal cords to pull it off while
Nocturno Culto blasts it all beyond a darker shade of black.

With the eeriest of shrill electrified steel stringed driven discord, the intro of
'The Winds They Call The Dungeon Shaker' is sure to have the highest of 
all holymen quaking in their boots before the carnage even begins! Vocals are
Isengard icey over down and dirty left path riffing as the pious are piled high
onto a wagon of still writhing undead. Forget about "who" the Dungeon Shaker
really is, all you need to know is that it's Darkthrone's ultimate priestbeater
of a black thrash metal track!

'Oath Minus' attacks with a stiff third finger and brass knuckled backhanded blow!
Within this second track is some wildly creative guitar work. Elements of 80's
thrash, heavy metal, earliest black metal, death metal and some debased and
degraded mindmelding 70's doom proto metal get the usual Darkthrone black iron
furnace incineration treatment. The vox of Fenriz morphs into that of a first wave
demonic force of sorts which suits the retro ambience but it's the killer drumming
and instrumentation that make this song a stunner.

'Hiking Metal Punks'! we're here, we got beer so on with the black n' roll party!
Fenriz lives up to his name while challenging the old guard with sharp white fangs
exposed and blood curdling wolf howls. Nocturno enters into a crazed altered riffing
state- like a Viking tripping out on berzerker fly agaric. Seriously though, this track
should be the official anthem of both the Oslo thrash underground and the
Norwegian National Post Office.."marching on in rain or shine!"

Commencing with a thin haze of ethereal old school organ piping in the distance,
the seeker of the 'Blacksmith Of The North' abruptly turns on his black heel and
sets off on a cold thundering journey of darkly crafted fret fracturing guitars leading
to the split timber longhouse at the top of this world. An old god's forge of inspiration
keeps the secret of the ancient fires burning within the Blacksmith's coal black soul.

Nocturno returns to 'Norway In September' with a blacker bag of tricks.
The guitar magick of this track is masterful dispersion of evil genius strewn with
influences of all the greatest metal masters of olde. It begins with a smoldering heavy
doomtrodden thrash assault whilst spewing punked out black vomit that sinks midway
into a downward spiralling tunnel of kaliedoscopic retro riffing and ends with the
fiercest thrashed out heavy metal battle gallop to the shores damned long ago.
Needless to say, the drumming is nothing less than devastatingly flawless here.

'Grizzly Trade' has one of the most torturous intros known to metal and brings to mind
subjects like human and animal rights violations, persecution of pagans, fur farms,
poaching, war mongers- the usual targets of crust punks. The song then breaks into
an ultra crusty thrashing and ends back into the tyrant's strings sneering with sarcasm.
Nocturno's clear bellowing vox is freaky to behold but effectively macabre.

Within the first few slashing metal twangs of 'Hanging Out In Haiger', it's obvious that
another great metal anthem is on the way- a blackened heavy metaller's partying tune
if you will. Hails to the dirty metal denizens and "a couple of diehards!" in a salute to
their gods of the riff and the metal meisters whom they duly revere.
"Ahh you better believe it!", 'cause this track slays!

The bell tolls and the drums roll as a killer heavy black metal tank of an instrumental
points it's massive cannons at a nu metal colony and then proceeds to flatten over
all of the remaining shelled and half burned churches in it's periphery. In an ode to the
ancient kings of the doom wastelands, Darkthrone brings it on home to the frozen
trenches of their northern Old World where 'Dark Thrones And Black Flags' still stand.

Enter 'Launchpad To Nothingness' "the road to hell.." of a high tech civilization.
A track that wreaks hatred and disgust for the mindless addicts of high technology
and high production that cuts through mental fog with loud sooty vocals. There's
alot of early trademark rage of Nocturno seeping out of this song which may be useful
in so far as conjuring up ideas of who or what to use next as ice fishing bait.

Darkthrone saves the best for last with 'Witch Ghetto'! Øhy! it's shakin' the bricks out
of the brownstone and sure to delight the black cottontailed thrash bunnies of their ever
faithful fanbase. Once again Fenriz gets necro-festive, scaling cemetery walls, leaping
over tombstones and screaming like a lemur. Thrashwise, this number both instrumentally
and atmospherically blows the doors off the rest of the tracks while smashing the ol' hood
to smithereens.

01. The Winds They Called The Dungeon Shaker
02. Oath Minus
03. Hiking Metal Punks
04. Blacksmith Of The North
05. Norway In September
06. Grizzly Trade
07. Hanging Out In Haiger
08. Dark Thrones And Black Flags
09. Launchpad To Nothingness
10. Witch Ghetto

label: www.peaceville.com
official site: www.darkthrone.no
www.myspace.com/officialdarkthrone
www.myspace.com/tyrantsyndicate