### Darkthrone: Circle the wagons

#### 21/05/10 || Trauma

I had a digital copy of this for reviewing purposes, but didn’t want to write my review until I got my hands on the actual CD at hand. Why is that? Well, because there is more to this band than just the music. Darkthrone is a band of two music fans, and you’re going to get at the least a booklet showcasing just that. I actually had slight difficulty getting the booklet out of the jewel case it’s that thick. Thick paper, but still, it’s got plenty of pages as well and something that needs to be read while you listen.

I suppose that is the best way to listen to an album like this. Except, instead of just an LP cover, or a CD booklet with two pages, Darkthrone gives you not only just lyrics, but some pics and thoughts by Fenriz on his tunes about what he feels with the songs. He shows how absolute a fan he is. Fucken awesome hiking photos and it’s a joy to read the booklet while listening to the music. I used to do that shit with Metallica back in the 90’s, and hadn’t done it since because it didn’t provide the same feeling anymore. You don’t have to wait for a goddamn remaster just to read the artists thoughts on the music presented before you. One, because they will most likely never remaster these records, and two, because these are mostly present thoughts on what’s in front of you, not fake nostalgic “Oh, I remember how shitty the recording studio was and how terrible it was to record and how many drugs I consumed during that one take!” I appreciate the fuck out of what Fenriz put into this booklet. They also give credit where it’s due and you can certainly see there is no lack of respect with these guys. At the end you get Fenriz’s guide to must-have albums, which seems spot on to me so far.

A slight funny thing, which has no bearing on the album itself, is that after I tore off the plastic and opened up the CD I notice a crack down the side and when I open up the case that crack had compromised the integrity of the latch. Needless to say, this album is old school that the jewel case fell apart upon opening. Normally I’d be pissed because I have slight fits of OCD, but something about it made me laugh and not care in the slightest. A little bit of super glue will solve the issue, anyways.

I’m not a true Darkthrone fan, and I have not listened to any of their previous material. I knew of them and I knew their “mystique” or whatever, and coming into this album I did have high hopes of being entertained if nothing else. It takes an album like this I guess to change my mind absolutely. Entertained by far, but impressed even more. The mood was set with Fenriz’s count-in with whatever he is saying in “Those treasures will never befall you”. If you didn’t know what you were about to get into you were stone deaf or completely thick-headed. The 80’s underground shines through each and every tune, with Fenriz and Nocturno Culto showing the can do it just as well if not better. The arrangement of tunes is great. You’ve got Fenriz’s simpler arrangements and faster tempos followed by Culto’s slower and heavier (with some quite fantastic riffs throughout) stuff. They alternate from there and it’s quite obvious who wrote what. I tend to get more into Culto’s tunes mostly because they contain some of the best riffs on the record, and usually progress into a climax of sorts usually about halfway through the tune. Listen and you’ll understand better. I suggest “Black mountain totem”, as I believe it to be the best song on the album and contains the highpoint as far as riffs go. I don’t dislike Fenriz’s tunes at all, but Culto’s have a bit more of what I like in music. To each his own.

As far as production goes, if you’re looking for modern I suggest you take a right turn at Mustard Gas Avenue because you’re a retard. You get fitting, perfect production for what was gone for, but old sounding it is. I’m assuming it’s a far cry from the absolutely horrible sound of their previous records (from what I read about them), but definitely not one computer was used to cut and paste or alterate anything. I think Fenriz even said he used the Hi-hat mic to record the vocals for “I am the graves of the 80s”. The fact that it works so well makes it that much cooler.

So, all in all this is to me one of the best albums of the past some years, and probably going to be one of the best of this decade. Hands down. It does it all right and hit me at a time where I was beginning to get tired of modern metal and bands I used to like. I realized I was being a pretty close-minded person with a lot of music. This was my first introduction to Darkthrone, and I did my best to not sound like a retard and do some background checking without actually listening to the music. That is now going to change, of course. If you like your metal unlike what’s currently out there and like what used to be, pick up this album. I seriously doubt it’s something you wouldn’t enjoy.

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Peaceville
- Website: www.darkthrone.no
- Band
- Nocturno Culto: vocals, guitar, bass
- Fenriz: drums, vocals and bass, dammit!

- Tracklist
- 01. Those treasure will never befall you
- 02. Running for borders
- 03. I am the graves of the 80s
- 04. Stylized corpse
- 05. Circle the wagons
- 06. Black mountain totem
- 07. I am the working class
- 08. Eyes burst at dawn
- 09. Bränn inte slottet (InstruMETAL)