I know very well that I already praised the EP that DARKTHRONE released before this album. To say that one should forget about everything I wrote there in comparison to this album is certainly not correct, but I must say that I am definitely surprised by the even far better album. The best way to support my opinion is certainly that ‘Too Old, Too Cold’, the titletrack of that EP, is the weakest song on the full-length. There’s not much one can debate regarding the quality of the album – unlike certain DVD-interviews in certain German magazines which should never be made again!!! – everything is as it should be: the sound is superb, the vocals sound as dark as in the mid 90s, there are finally solos again on a DARKTHRONE – album that have not been there since at least “Under A Funeral Moon”, but nevertheless this album has not too much in common with the glorious trilogy musicwise. The songs have become much shorter and they certainly have a crustier edge now. To me it looks like DARKTHRONE have consciously decided to give their new album a different approach, especially in comparison to the dozens of bands that nowadays try to sound like DARKTHRONE anno 1993 (to quote: “You copy my style and you call yourself a man?”), and I have to say that they did succeed. They feel connected to the underground but do not care a single second for any rules on the one hand, and do not care for the business side either. The video which is included on the special edition of the CD is not really appropriate in my opinion, but as Nocturno Culto stated in an interview it was rather to show that a Metal video does not need a script, a director etc., it is not too bad either. I doubt though that the video is reason enough to spend more money on this album than for the normal CD. It is evident that DARKTHRONE would not care about my opinion on this video anyway. However, the album is highly recommended from my side for the pure musical side of the album, and the duo remains as one of the very few early Norwegian bands that still deserve support. www.darkthrone.no