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Darkthrone, The Underground Resistance: Blowing the Reactor

Posted in Reviews on March 5th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

The thing about Darkthrone some 25-plus years into their career is they don’t give a fuck. A lot of bands say that, but few say it as convincingly and have the fuckall in their approach to back it up that the long-running Norwegian duo seem to toss off on their records like so many squibbly riffs. Where that attitude has manifested itself over the course of their last several full-lengths as a raw, lo-fi punk aimed hard at the very roots of the black metal Darkthrone once pioneered on albums like A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) and Transylvanian Hunger (1994), their newest full-length and 16th by my count, The Underground Resistance (Peaceville), finds them blending that rawness with a traditional metal approach manifesting many of the influences they’ve claimed since 2007’s N.W.O.B.H.M – New Wave of Black Heavy Metal single signaled their transition from the blackened material of 2006’s The Cult is Alive — actually it was kind of stagnant — to later 2007’s F.O.A.D. (Fuck off and Die), at once a declaration and defense of its own stylistic shift.

But at this point, having pushed that punkish sound as far as it could go or at least as far as they were interested in pushing it with 2010’s bored-seeming-but-still-effective Circle the Wagons (review here), I honestly think that praise heaped on The Underground Resistance and harsh criticism of it sound the same in the ears of multi-instrumentalist/vocalists Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum and Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell: It’s all just noise. If that’s actually the case, I don’t know, but it’s at least the perception and that character has become as much a part of Darkthrone‘s sound as Fenriz‘s campaigning on behalf of classic underground metal, so fervent that band recommendations on the last couple albums have come on a per-track basis in the liner notes, with Darkthrone cited on occasion as influencing themselves. All this makes the duo a fascinating entity, but ultimately has little to do with the music, which on The Underground Resistance remains as confrontational as ever in this semi-novel aesthetic sphere. The sound of the album’s six tracks is fuller and occasionally grander than that of Circle the Wagons or 2008’s Dark Thrones and Black Flags before it — as heavy metal was when it emerged early in the ’80s to distinguish itself from punk — but raw enough in its production to be called consistent. That is, between Nocturno Culto‘s trademark gurgle and the speedy gallop of the riffing on the penultimate “Come Warfare, the Entire Doom,” there’s little doubt you’re listening to a Darkthrone record, whatever kind of shenanigans they might be getting up to this time around.

And while homage is paid throughout the album’s 41 minutes to the likes of Manilla Road, Pagan AltarCeltic FrostBathory, Iron Maiden and Mercyful FateFenriz rounding out the album with some pretty mean King Diamond-style vocal drama on the 14-minute closer “Leave No Cross Unturned” — whatever sonic references they might be making are filtered through their own approach so that Darkthrone still sound like Darkthrone. I don’t know if I’d call The Underground Resistance re-energized as compares to Circle the Wagons, but as a band who’ve emerged as being pretty self-aware over the last decade or so, they probably could sense it was time for a change in their approach, even if it wasn’t a conscious decision between the two members as they wrote their individual parts. Three years is also the longest break between Darkthrone albums since 1996’s Goatlord and 1999’s Ravishing Grimness, and if the extra time was spent developing this material, I’d have to believe it. Even “Leave No Cross Unturned,” which seems to switch back and forth between Fenriz and Nocturno Culto parts, nonetheless winds up with one of the collection’s strongest hooks in its chorus with the oft-repeated title line. Finding earlier companionship on the album in “The Ones You Left Behind,” which works from a similar foundation musically, it’s all one could reasonably ask of a closer for an album like The Underground Resistance, which makes a weapon even of its most accessible moments.

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Barren Earth Interview with Oppu Laine: And Everything Cascades

Posted in Features on May 11th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Progressive death metal supergroup Barren Earth are set to begin a short tour of their native Finland tomorrow, May 12, in support of their debut full-length, Curse of the Red River (review here), which follows the Our Twilight EP (review here), from the title track of which the above headline comes.

But, to hear bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine tell it, that’s kind of how the band came together as well. Disparate players involved in separate bands, each trickling in the direction of what would become Barren Earth. As the central organizing force, Laine — formerly of Amorphis and Finnish stoner rockers Mannhai — had the task of bringing everyone together — and with members of acts as far-reaching as Kreator and Moonsorrow, it couldn’t have been easy.

The complete lineup of Barren Earth includes Laine, vocalist Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö of Kreator, guitarist Janne Perttilä of thrashers Rytmihäiriö (also live Moonsorrow), keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson who was also in Amorphis and Mannhai, and drummer Marko Tarvonen of Moonsorrow. If you didn’t follow all of that, here’s what it boils down to: a lot of talented players and a lot of crowded schedules.

Nonetheless, in the short three-year time Barren Earth has been together, the level of output has displayed a cohesiveness that goes well beyond having players on the same page. Not only is the band tight, they’re productive, and as Laine explains in the following interview, it’s a common influence ranging from ’90s death metal to ’70s prog that unites them and makes them able to compose material as diverse as that on Curse of the Red River.

Whether or not you’re in Finland and can catch them in the next couple days — they’ll be playing Turku, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and Oulu — please enjoy the Q&A to be found, as always, after the jump.

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Darkthrone Keep the Fires Blazing and the Graves Open on Circle the Wagons

Posted in Reviews on April 23rd, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Norwegian legends Darkthrone and I have something in common: We both couldn’t give less of a fuck about the legacy of black metal. Though with earlier albums like Transilvanian Hunger and A Blaze in the Northern Sky, they helped shape that the genre would become in the ‘90s and beyond, the duo of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Nocturno Culto and drummer/vocalist Fenriz have morphed into an oldschool punk/metal wrecking crew, giving nods to Trouble and obscure/classic ‘80s speed metallers along the way.

Their oppositional stance to press, playing live and (occasionally) their own fans has made Darkthrone a pariah in the world of underground metal, and I doubt very much they’d have it any other way. As on their more recent albums, F.O.A.D. (2007) and Dark Thrones and Black Flags (2008), the latest, Circle the Wagons (Peaceville), was composed half by Fenriz and half by Nocturno Culto, and contains the barebones stuff of heavy metal hunger. Imagine being in a band for 23 years and still sounding as ravenous as though you were just releasing your first demo.

What’s most striking about Circle the Wagons opener “Those Treasures Will Never Befall You” is how produced it is. Of course, it’s all relative, but compared to Dark Thrones and Black Flags and F.O.A.D., which basically sounded as live and lo-fi as you can get, Circle the Wagons starts off sounding polished. I chalk it up to the added experience the band has recording themselves and maybe some new equipment at Necrohell Studios, where they make all their albums. Nonetheless, the song — a Fenriz composition — feels like the duo are starting to develop within this still basically new stage of their career, beginning to evolve within their punk/metal sound. The vocals are a little more complex in their arrangement, and on the whole it comes off as less reckless than some of their output in the last few years. It’s an interesting development.

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Sunrise over Barren Earth

Posted in Reviews on April 12th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

As an admitted and unrepentant Amorphis geek, I was thrilled last year to find former bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine (in the band from 1990-2000; inarguably their best and most influential years) resurfacing in progressive death metal outfit Barren Earth. Laine, who’d found the stoner rock leanings of prior outfit Mannhai limiting, wanted a return to deathly heaviness, and with the Our Twilight EP, released through Peaceville, he found it, accompanied by such Finnish luminaries as vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun), guitarists Janne Perttilä (Rytmihäiriö) and Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator) and drummer Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow) in an underground supergroup of devastating musical heft.

Inevitability dictates there must be a full-length to follow-up a debut EP, and Barren Earth have theirs in the form of Curse of the Red River (still Peaceville), which, like Our Twilight, boasts a cover strictly adhered to an old school mid-’90s European death/doom aesthetic, even as the music finds itself in a different niche entirely, veering away from the Paradise Lost-worship suggested by the visuals in favor of a thoroughly modern progressive death approach. Opeth was a sticking point comparison to the EP and the same holds true for Curse of the Red River, Kotamäki’s multi-layered vocals moving gracefully between throaty growling and clean melodies. The title track of the EP shows up here as well, and fits in well enough with the rest of the material, which on “Forlorn Waves” puts keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson, also ex-Mannhai and Amorphis, to work on a track that recalls Elegy’s masterful blend of folk-inspired beauty and wrenching metallic crunch.

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Darkthrone Have Decided that Wagons are “Totally Black Metal,” and Circling Them, Even More So

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 8th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

The PR wire owns your soul with this news about new Darkthrone. They rule and have an influence on underground rock farther reaching than any genre tag you want to saddle on them, so yes, the album will be covered here. If that makes me a hipster poseur loser whatever, I’ll gladly refer you to the banner at the top of the page and hope that clears up the argument.

Here’s the info:

The unrelenting Norwegian duo, Darkthrone, will welcome a new decade with a new album, to be released on Peaceville Records. Circle the Wagons, a creative feast of metal and punk, will initially be released on vinyl on March 8th, through the Peaceville Records webstore, as an exclusive taster for the legions of metal supporters out there who still care about great music delivered the classic way. The vinyl will also include a link to download a digital version of the album, which will be available when the regular and special edition CD versions of the album are released on April 6th.

Circle the Wagons was self-recorded at Necrohell II Studios. Artwork for the album comes once again courtesy of Dennis Dread, notable for his talents on previous Darkthrone albums, F.O.A.D. and 2008’s Dark Thrones and Black Flags.

Drummer/lyricist, Fenriz explains the meaning behind the title…

“The new metal decade starts with our album. It is a message to the invaders of our metal domain to circle their wagons!  With our own brand of heavy metal/speed metal-punk we are a constant ambush on the modern overground metal traitors. Join us in our fight against instant gratification, and let’s see who stands when the smoke clears.”

Track listing:
01. Those Treasures 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

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Katatonia: Day and Then the Lame

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 12th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Don’t get me wrong, I think the new Katatonia record, Night is the New Day, is pretty sweet. But this video for “Day and Then the Shade” — well, not so much. It’s just a couple of goth chicks writhing around in the woods with Marilyn Manson-circa-1996 jump cuts, shaky cams and timing changes. I don’t know if director Lasse Hoile — who has previously worked with Opeth and Porcupine Tree — thought of the “concept” on his own or was given orders from the label or band, but man, it’s a long way away from good. Yikes. Because I’m a fan of Katatonia and feel bad for them, here it is.

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Barren Earth Take a Little of This, Little of That, Make Prog-Death Stew on Debut EP

Posted in Reviews on November 4th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Yay tradition.One can?t help but be reminded of Paradise Lost?s Gothic when looking at the artwork for Finnish progressive death metal supergroup Barren Earth?s debut EP, Our Twilight. Even their logo as it?s presented on the cover has an early ?90s Peaceville feel to it, and the script in which the album title as well. The four-song outing fits into the label?s legacy for more reasons than just the superficial, sonically bridging the gap between early Opeth, mid-period Amorphis and Katatonia, but there?s no denying this was meant to look like a Peaceville release, and so it does.

When a record label like Peaceville tells you a band?s sound is ?fusing death metal with progressive rock and folk elements,? your mind is justified in immediately flashing to Opeth as a comparison point. Barren Earth do have some Opethian moments, in their structures perhaps even more than their riffs or style, but as noted above, it?s more than just ?kerfeldt-style playing and singing going on. With Kreator guitarist Sami Yli-Sirni?, Moonsorrow drummer Marko Tarvonen, Swallow the Sun vocalist Mikko Kotam?ki and former Amorphis bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine in the lineup, there is bound to be a number of influences on display.

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Another Victory for My Dying Bride

Posted in Reviews on October 27th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Should have called it, "Bring Me a More Comfortable-Looking Chair."Although I was a fan of My Dying Bride?s latest offering, For Lies I Sire, which Peaceville released this past March, I haven?t found myself going back to it for repeat listens. Entirely possible this is because some of the songs seemed samey and the standouts were few and far between, but more likely I think the album as a whole just didn?t stick with me like I?d anticipated it would. That happens sometimes.

All this, of course, isn?t a comment on the band. My Dying Bride are legends whose track record far surpasses whatever judgments I find myself making one way or the other. The UK doomers have been together since 1990, and they?re still going strong, vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe and guitarist Andrew Craighan (and, since 2000, guitarist Hamish Glencross) crafting lineup after lineup and never managing to lose sight of the melancholic mission of the band. On the stopgap release, Bring Me Victory, that mission is reaffirmed through singling out the title track and accompanying it by some tidbits fans will be thrilled to receive.

?Bring Me Victory? was a highlight of For Lies I Sire, and it works well on its own here, but it was more the cover of traditional English ballad ?Scarborough Fair? that I was excited to hear, wondering if Stainthorpe would tackle the harmonies Simon and Garfunkel brought to the song on their 1966 interpretation of it. He doesn?t, but the song is perfect for his clean vocals nonetheless, and gives new violinist Shaun MacGowan ample opportunity to show why he was included in the band to replace the short-tenured Katie Stone.

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