This 17 track re-mastered work is a re-release of early Darkthrone demos “Land of Frost” (1988), “A New Dimension” (1989), Thulcandra (1989) and Cromlech (1989), together with a couple of Norwegian TV live recordings and a 1999 track “God of Disturbance and Friction”. Most of the tracks are on the “Frostland Tapes” which came out in 2008, so I’m not sure what the point of this is.
It’s never easy to pass judgement on these re-released demos as they are just that – demos – and the recording quality is of the sort to suggest that it was all recorded in a living room, and the backs of frying pans were used for drums. This isn’t so far from the truth as the idea of a recording studio didn’t come about until “Thulcandra” as the band had no money. So it is raw but there is a sense of underlying evil. Most striking are the alternating irregularity, threatening nature and ferocity of the drum work. Darkthrone were never bothered much about production anyway but through the grainy sound specialise in the musical creation of hostility and cold landscapes. The “Land of Frost” tracks are typically distant. Never fluid and always fuzzy, they are experimental. Don’t expect anything remotely easy to listen to. The vocals, those of Fenriz at this point, hiss and echo. It was different then and it’s different now, as it slowly and bleakly progresses in its Black Metal way, inspired by the sounds of old school Metal. “Day of the Dead” is as funereal as it gets. Continuity is not there as one dark passage is superseded by another twist and is taken over by another. It’s all punctuated by a break and a tap of the drum to signal a new canvas of horror and bleakness. Here and there a moody guitar passage can be found. There’s something interesting here and at this stage in their musical adventure Darkthrone are working out what it is.
With the short “A New Dimension” demo, the sound is more recognisable with its 70s or 80s style riffs. From a kind of Death/Black Metal base, noting that Black Metal hadn’t developed at this stage, Doom cuts in. The drum leads the acceleration and there’s a sinister guitar passage. In spite of the damp and sinister one, the hookiness which goes with some brands of Black Metal is there. Rich flavours enhance the pushing and driving Metal. What is impressive are the frequent changes of pace which threaten to take you over. It’s difficult but engaging. This is “Snowfall”. It is harsh, experimental and multi-faceted. Fenriz in fact describes “Snowfall” as “a snapshot of our influences at the time, result of a childhood and youth full of metal”. For me, it’s the focal point of this compilation.
And so it goes on. “Eon” is another Doom/Death orientated track with those frenetic, never previously heard drumming styles and growls. It’s highly distinctive of course because of the “natural” quality of the sound. These demos were recorded in old bomb shelters and living rooms, and now for the first time on “Thulcandra” a portable recording studio was used. Apart its marginally purer sound, it’s now starting to be more coherent but the “Thulcandra” demo is just as orientated to the old school metal of Venom and the like. The recording environment has changed but the philosophy hasn’t.
Although the demos were all recorded between 1988 and 1989, there’s a noticeable change with “Cromlech”. All three tracks on it are more ferocious and more defined in the venom as if a new confidence has been found. Up to now the sound has been deadened and isolated. It’s now more anarchic as the drums crash in all directions. Suddenly from the experimental, there’s excitement and passion and thanks to the razor guitars and frenetic drumming, it’s never going to be mainstream. There’s even a timelessness and almost melancholy peering through the violent darkness of “Sempiternal Past / Presence View Sepulchrality”. Darkthrone have moved on. The pure evil returns with the creeping “Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia”, a live track which features on the 1991 release “Soulside Journey”.
What of the other bits? There are a couple of extreme metal blasts, which must have mystified the live TV audiences of 1989 and apparently did, judging by the polite and confounded applause at the end. “Eon” merges into a particularly invigorating rendition of “Thulcandra”. “God of Disturbance and Friction” gives us more what we’re used to from Darkthrone in the 1990s. It’s a powerful and relentless piece which brings this disparate work to an end.
If you have the “Frostland Tapes”, I’m not sure that it’s worth buying this compilation for some interesting sleeve notes which outline band’s the background from the viewpoint of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto and a few extra tracks. This compilation is historically interesting but it’s so discordant, out of shape and harsh that I’m not sure it’s going to absorb you on its own merits, unless you particularly like old school metal. It’s certainly a series of statements of its time and it’s darkly creative but I’m not sure that there was any real added value in this release.
(5.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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