Ranking Bands' Complete Studio Album Discographies: The North
Darkthrone:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/302
Top Ten:
1. Transilvanian Hunger
2. A Blaze in the Northern Sky
3. Under a Funeral Moon
4. It Beckons Us All.......
5. Hate Them
6. Panzerfaust
7. Old Star
8. The Underground Resistance
9. Eternal Hails
10. Sardonic Wrath
01. Transilvanian Hunger
02. A Blaze in the Northern Sky
03. Under a Funeral Moon
04. Panzerfaust
05. Soulside Journey
06. Old Star
07. Ravishing Grimness
08. Hate Them
09. Arctic Thunder
10. Sardonic Wrath
Darkthrone
1. A Blaze in the Northern Sky
2. Transilvanian Gunher
3. Under a Funeral Moon
4. Panzerfaust
5. Soulside Journey
6. Ravishing Grimness
7. Arctic Thunder
8. Total Death
9. Eternal Hails
10. Goatlord (Demo)
11. Land of Frost (Demo)
12. Oldstar
My slightly controversial take:
1. Soulside Journey
2. Transilvanian Hunger
3. Under a Funeral Moon
4. Total Death
5. A Blaze in the Northern Sky
6. Panzerfaust
7. Ravishing Grimness
8. Plaguewielder
Everything after that bored me to death, and as my familiarity with the stuff is patchy at best, I opted not to include. I know it has its fans (apologies, Sonny!), but I just couldn't get into it over several approaches. My opinion of Darkthrone in general is a bit lower than most Northerners, I'm afraid. As you can see, I prefer their death metal debut to the widely regarded black metal era, of which only "Transilvanian Hunger" is a real classic in my book. I sometimes wonder what they could've achieved had they continued on the death metal path. That said, I don't mind Fenris' Isengard side project, not to mention the duo's contributions to other regarded black metal classics - Satyricon's magnum opus, "Nemesis Divina" & Dødheimsgard's wonderful debut. That, plus their status as "father figures" for the scene, make me think that perhaps it was all for the best after all.
Gorgoroth:
1. Under the Sign of Hell
2. Pentagram
3. Antichrist
4. Destroyer
5. The Last Tormentor / Bergen 1996
6. A Sorcery Written in Blood demo
7. Quantos possunt ad Satanitatem trahunt
8. True Norwegian Black Metal - Live in Grieghallen
9. Incipit Satan
10. Instinctus bestialis
11. Under the Sign of Hell 2011
12. Ad majorem Sathanas gloriam
13. Twilight of the Idols
I honestly think they managed to avoid dipping below a certain level of quality across the whole discography. I'd suggest that even the lowest placed records on the list ain't that bad, although I certainly am biased as far as this band goes - Gorgoroth were my first love when it comes to extreme metal, and I will always place them among the highest deities of my metal pantheon. I hope we're going to hear from them once more - it's been 10 years already since "Instinctus bestialis" and I wouldn't mind at all to witness yet another "Rebirth".
Edit: For every connoisseur of Infernus' unique riff attack, allow me to recommend some 2024 releases to scratch the itch a bit:
1. Förgjord (FIN) - "Perkeleen weri"
2. Sørgelig (GRE) - "Φθορά"
3. Isolert (GRE) - "Wounds of Desolation"