In 1985 no one thought of this as black metal, but we knew it was too weird and dark to be mentioned alongside many other bands aside from Venom and Mercyful Fate. Varg was often picture wearing a Celtic Frost shirt though he would admit to not really being a fan. That is something that cannot be said of a band like Darkthrone. It has left it's mark on metal for sure. You might find more bands covering " the Usurper" which is driven by a cool riff, I just think " Jewel Throne" is a more interesting song. It has more attack, which is not something my love for this band is contingent on as I feel their strength lies in their odder moments. They did get weirder with each album making this one a fairly straight forward release for them. The production carries a raw buzz to the guitars.
There is a more doom like vibe going into "Dawn of Meggido". Symphonic ambiance hinted at during the album's intro begin to rise to the surface once more. "Eternal Summer" is solid but works off a more straight forward chug so not as compelling at the rest of the songs on the album's a-side. Yes, since this album came out in 1985 we are talking about which side of the tape or album it was on. I had the tape. Even though it is more thrashing it is hard to argue against "Circle of the Tyrants". They keep this mood going with more aggressive chugging on "North Winds". "Fainted Eyes" finds the pace picking up to almost a punk tempo, but the punches anchor it back into metal.
After a track of noise, we get into the last actual song " Necromantical Screams" . This stands out due to the operatic soprano hovering around the song's edges. When I first heard this song, it really struck me as setting this band apart from their peers in their willingness to experiment. Here is a case of where I am going to round this album's score up because I have heard some of these songs so much over the years, I think I might take them for granted.
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