Black Metal History Month Looks Back in Anger at Darkthrone's "Hate Them"

This album is 17 years old. How well does it stand up to the test of time ? We are about to find out  Darkthrone is a band who has evolved over the years. This finds them still as black metal band but perhaps not black metal in the way they had previously helped to define it.   Cold is the best way to describe the feeling of the opening riff.  They were way past blast beats at this point and into their raw punky Black n Roll feel. The vocals have more of a croak to them . This over all sound seems to have influenced Inquisition a great deal. They do build into more of a gallop. The pace to the second song picks up which is more typical of what can be expected of Darkthrones less blast beaten days. I did not say Darkthrone's post black metal days as this album still feels black metal as do all but maybe the past three.

"Fucked Up and Ready to Die" has more buzz to the tremlo of the riff and nastier scathing vocals. The song slows into a much more powerful riff.They return to the more Celtic Frost pacing and stomp along into the next song. This one kind of drones on. The guitars summon a more sludgey atmosphere while still in the ball park of black metal. The drums are a little low in the mix ghere as the guitar dominates. "Divided We Stand" is closer to black metal of today. It meets at more of a punk place , but the buzz saw guitar is totally black metal. The vocals have a more tortured rasp to their croak,.There is more of an uptempo punk feel to "Striving For A Piece of Lucifer".  The guitar is a little sloppier here, not that they have ever been about precision. If you are a punk looking for a starting point for black metal, this song is a good place to start. 

This faster punk attitude and sloppiness can als be felt on the last song "In Honour of thy Name". This is not my favorite moment from this band as it is very haphazard. I will give this album an 8.5 it's not the Darkthrone album even from this time period that I listen to the most. As I stated before if you are a punk looking to get into black metal this is a good place to start. 

Report to the Dance Floor : Popkissed "It's a Fine Day"

Northern Europe is no stranger to electronic music. Swedish and House might have become two almost inseparable words,  yet culture even in the bustling cityscape of Oslo still holds traces of it's colder and harsher roots than the generally more carefree and sometimes vapid culture of their southern neighbors. This carries over into the art the culture produces.Though this  Norwegian duo lives up to their name, weaving a blanket of beats and pop sensible melodies without being plastic bubble gum.

The two artists that comprise this project come from different worlds as Lill-Ann Blauenfeldt was a soloist for the Oslo Philharmonic Choir and Robert Solheim was already a world renown d.j with his track"Ghost Trip" was voted number 7 of the 100 best Electronic tracks of all time.

The opener " Cold Wars" percolates over the bass line and lifts off into the swirling constellation of synths. The songwriting is finely tuned in every respect, the lyrics form cohesive narratives of surreal stories rather than repetitive hooks dance music relies on. The only time they come close to falling into this formula is on " the Only Diva", but Lill-Ann's approach here is so theatrical it goes unnoticed.

 "Tell Me" dips into acid jazz, before soaring back up into a lush topography of  digital percussion. One of the albums' strong points is it doesn't feel the need to apologize for the cold nature of it's electronic make up, but uses it as the ground floor to build the songs from. Blaunenfeldt's husky alto is flexible in the range of her emotive delivery. She reaches down to gather up notes from her impressive lower range on "Illusions".

This album borders on being dark wave,  up beat with a gloss of melancholy over it. Sure sections sound like Sarah Brightman at times but are more reflective . Dancey but without allowing the dance floor being a distraction from song writing. Much of this credit goes to Solheim who was already experienced with working with vocalists in his former project the Opiates.

One of the album's most dance propelled moments comes on "Savior". The harmonies on the vocals almost remind you of the disco glory days of the early 80's. A futuristic portrait of dance is projected on "Red Lips" which maintains some New Wave, but fully upgraded and cyber infused. The title track glistens in the glimmer of night, as chill wave is married to a more driving beat to create a sensual combustion of the two elements.

The traces of the Eurythmics glide across the melody of "Planet".  While "Dangerous is not too far removed from Switchblade Symphony in the ghostly manner the vocals haunt the spectral beats. The lyrics are evocative and conjure imagery current fans of more modern cyber-goth favorites like the Birthday Party Massacre will latch on to, especially lines like " celebration days for the happy undertaker " on celebration time.

This is one of the more innovative edm releases I have heard this year, it has actual songs and melodies, coating the beats rather than just being an after thought. Solheim doesn't try to dumb down any element or go for a lo-fi retro feel on the production, showing confidence in what he has crafted here, just as Blaunenfeldt's performance on this album is very sure of her identity and doesn't see to pay direct homage to her inspirations but celebrate the songs.