DARKTHRONE have, for the past three or so years, both disappointed and enlightened their fans. Those among us who now despise DARKTHRONE for selling out, going Punk, or whatever else have you, aren’t entirely wrong, but they certainly aren’t justified in saying the music doesn’t satisfy. This record, more than any other since “The Cult Is Alive”, has more Black Metal than the Black Metal albums DARKTHRONE released between 1995-2002. What makes it Black Metal without sounding like dust blowing in an air filter, is that it borrows directly from the bands that truly influenced the genre. Bands like VOIVOD, whose influence can be heard on the first track, ‘The Winds They Called The Dungeon Master’, AUTOPSY, whose slow, haunting passages are always a joy to hear, MOTÖRHEAD, whose drumming is heard practically in every Metal album, and CELTIC FROST. DARKTHRONE have always taken inspiration from these bands, and many others like them too numerous to name here. However, it must be said that they are not the same band they once were. This record is too thrashy and traditionally Metal to be called Black Metal by today’s standards. Yet, this is why it IS a Black Metal album. BULLDOZER, TORMENTOR, SODOM, BATHORY, AXEGRINDER; none of them sounded like Drowning The Light or Mastiphal. It feels free, free to drink whisky and blast TANK records. www.darkthrone.no, www.myspace.com/officialdarkthrone