It’s album number 17 or thereabouts for Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. Actually they have travelled so far from the black metal days, which was something they were not even about back in 1991 with Soulside Journey that even calling them by their corpse-painted nom-de-plumes seems wrong. Let’s refer to them as Ted and Mayor Gylve and be done with it. Although it seems like only yesterday, it has actually been three whole years since they dished out ‘The Underground Resistance’ and what an addictive album that turned out to be with all its NWOBHM tropes and wailing falsetto, the high notes even giving THAT bamboozling Mystifier album a run for its tight trousers. The thing is the duo just make what they do seem so natural. The riffs on the 8 (naturally) numbers on this new one seem so simple that there’s probably a dungeon bedroom duo who have learnt them straight away and are knocking out a tribute album to this already; Dorkthrone – Arctic Chunder, now that would have been an album title. The fact is though it’s our much loved dastardly duo that somewhat alchemically wrought them first and it’s something that as followers of the band through the years we love em for keeping doing. It’s not like we can get the chance to see them live now is it?
From the first doom laden riff on the opening number ‘Tundra Leech’ (and all the titles here are gloriously descriptive) you should hear what I meant. It gets straight in your ear and tunnels through looking for a juicy bit of brain to munch on as it slothfully and with grim determination spirals away. Add to this the craggy vocals from Nocturno who handles them all this time around and you have one word that sums this up, “gnarly” and gorgeously so. There’s some bursts of speed but overall this one chunders on and vomits out the goods perfectly until a proto-metal riff is spawned and you are going to find yourself headbanging away like it’s the late 70’s all over again. There’s something ultra-geeky about the whole exercise and you will find yourself noting certain musical motifs that sound straight out of yesteryear and trying to work out if you have heard them before, which of course you won’t quite have done so. Speeding up ‘Burial Bliss’ smothers in lashings of groove as it gallops through the woods and those vocals hit the night sky. There’s a sense of jubilation here rather than abject grimness and the guys seem to be really enjoying themselves as they knock this one out in probably not many more than one take. Despite the rawness it all sounds excellent, the opening notes on ‘Boreal Fiends’ displaying a bass heavy gravitas that along with the cymbals leave your ears ringing. This feels like an ode to freezing and pervades upon you like the slow approach of frost and ice creeping up on you and touching gradually with hypothermia. Suddenly it all gets weird with the albums one falsetto croon and some real doom riffs eventually progressing into a flare shuffling stomp and wood knocking sound that could have been spawned right off an old Cathedral number; if it don’t bring a shit eating grin to yer mush nothing will. What do we find deep in the woods, ‘Inbred Vermin’ naturally and with the slewed riffs lurching around this one it sounds like they could well have been at the moonshine. Complete with some great riffs that sound like they were made by some obscure Canadian band with a one word name it’s a case of headbanging, spilling your cider and falling over the sofa; damn this would be great live!
Onto side B and although its hard choosing a favourite the cantering riffs of the title track prove compulsive and are likely to send a band like Satyricon back in time wondering just how they missed the rhythm and melody of it all. Then again some of it sounds such a throwback to times gone past you could even look on some of it like a blackened Thin Lizzy! Apparently the album title is actually named after an obscure Norwegian band from the 80’s and no doubt with this knowledge people are going to be trying to unearth their stuff. It’s time to slowly sink without a trace as we move to ‘Throw Me Through The Marshes,’ the riffs ever more ponderous and vocals craggy and weathered before it swaggers off with ballsy bravado. I am guessing the lyrics will be in the full album, I’m working off a stream of it and would really like to know just what Ted is rasping on about on numbers like ‘Deep Lake Trespass.’ Some murder that took place and has become legend would be a guess as they pair of them hammer and thunder away musically. Again there’s an upbeat feel about this one with some underlying grim tones and it’s a bouncy beast of a number. 40 minutes is the perfect time for an album like this and we reach the finale with ‘The Wyoming Distance’ a curious title and a song that really feels like it has been knocked out in one go, almost a demo song that sounded good enough to go with and one that as soon as you reach the end you are going to want to go back and start the journey all over again.
Is this classic Darkthrone? Well I guess time will tell but Arctic Thunder delivers a great throwback to the past and revels in metal in all its glories; what more could you possibly want?
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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