Darkthrone-Dark Thrones and Black Flags(2008)

I didn't know about this one at first. There are almost too many contradictions, but in the end, it all sort of makes sense, mainly after the glue takes hold. Darkthrone are best know as the proto-typical evil Norwegian black metal band, a band known as the Ramones of Black metal for their minimalist three chord all corpse fucking approach. They have evolved into an evil band for wise-ass misanthropes, smirking metal gods content to piss off their fan base by calling attention to the punkisms that were always inherent to their sheets of white noise.


This album is not Transylvanian Hunger by any means. The title should tell you that this is not a grim blizzard beast, but an obvious nod to punk. Old school black metal riffs pop up from time to time, but this is scuzzy crust punk for than anything. It's kind of hard to put a label on it, really. Jokey Manowar we love our metal so much that we border on parody lyrics; sloppy musicianship; simple 4/4 mummy daddy mummy daddy drum patterns; mighty riffs tinged with square peg sounding hardcoreness; I don't give a fuck English as second language vocal stylings; the occasional power metal howl; raw but clear production values, with more bass than a band that has gone for years without a bass player should legally be allowed to have.


Hiking Metal Punks is the straight up punk rock song. Norway in September is a bargain basement metal epic with a fantastic riff. The Winds They called Metal Shaker is one of the strangest songs in their repertoire, featuring an slow building, old school riff, jokey power metal vocals, and sets the shambling feel that most of this album displays. Grizzly Trade is Celtic Frost worship that would not be out of place on Panzerfaust.


I think this is a band trying to reinvent itself by playing up it's eccentricities while staying as close to the minimalistic formula they invented. All-in-all, a likable concoction from a band that has always strived to be the opposite.

Rating: 8 out of 10