Review by Xephyr for Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)

The Classic Kind Of Evil

A Blaze in the Northern Sky sits atop the demonic but frozen throne along with Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark and the later released De mysteriis dom Sathanas for being one of the truest to form traditional Black Metal albums released. While Under the Sign of the Black Mark is the most dirty and raw, and De mysteriis dom Sathanas from Mayhem has the more crushing but polished atmosphere, A Blaze in the Northern Sky creates the most evil sounding middle ground for classic Black Metal. Resting right on the edge of being too theatrical and silly, Darkthrone walk the tightrope of having chaotic but weighty riffs with vampire-like vocals that somehow never falters into the realms of pretentiousness or absurdity. 

Each riff has that signature classic Black Metal lo-fi grind to it, but it's much more clear and manageable than something like early Burzum or Bathory. Whether Darkthrone is playing fast and furious tremolo sections or slower, crunchier chug riffs, everything is discernible while still having that chaotic Black Metal atmosphere that is so important on these early releases. The extended song structure is also a plus for me, as I tend to like my Black Metal tracks on the longer side, so having the 10-minute "Kathaarian Life Code" followed by a slew of 5+ minute songs is something that I'm a big fan of. It gives each riff more time to settle in and opportunities for the songs to properly build and fully flesh out their ideas rather than something like Bathory's old Thrash-like approach. 

To me, A Blaze in the Northern Sky is a true classic of old school Black Metal that incorporates all of the aspects that fans love about the genre into one 6-track package. It has the chaos, it has the chug, it has the aggressive and grating vocals, it has the complex and extended song structure, and most importantly it sounds evil as hell. Many Black Metal bands at the time walked around stage in corpse paint and came knocking on venue doors preaching the sometimes questionable words of the Devil, but I find that very few bands really mirror this in the music they create. Darkthrone, on the other hand, sound like they are crawling out of a misty graveyard on a stormy night ready to prey on unknowing victims. It takes a certain amount of skill to sound this evil, and Darkthrone definitely have a knack for it.