Review by Ben for Satyricon - The Shadowthrone (1994)

Great black metal mixed with folk and Viking elements that I personally struggle with.

I have to say I'm a bit torn when it comes to The Shadowthrone. On the one hand, it contains well executed and interesting black metal, played with passion by a few inspired legends of the scene. On the other hand, it has just a few too many folky and Viking elements for my personal preference. I'm aware that the debut album, which I adore, contained numerous interludes and outside influences, but I don't think the riffs ever suffered because of it. Every riff on Dark Medieval Times is cold and very black metal, which can't be said for all of The Shadowthrone. There's a lot of great music on this album but I simply can't rate it as high as I do the debut. It reminds me of Enslaved’s Frost album, not particularly due its sound, but due to its schizophrenic nature of switching between great black metal and in my opinion, average Viking metal.

When Frost, Samoth and Satyr decide to keep things dark and black on this release, the results are stunning! Almost every track has fantastic riffs, drumming, vocals and song writing. Unfortunately, almost every track also contains Viking and folk metal influences that just don’t work for me. In the Mist by the Hills is a perfect example of all this. The first 2 and a half minutes contain what I can only describe as a Viking metal riff that really doesn't move me at all. It's a simplistic and almost bouncy riff with simplistic boring drumming to back it up. Then all of a sudden, the track cranks out a truly awesome black metal riff and Frost hits the blast beats with utter perfection. I've gone from one-minute thinking how much I dislike the track to absolutely loving it the next. It may seem petty to complain about those first 2 minutes as the track goes for over 8, but it’s a regular occurrence throughout the album. There always seems to be one or two sections within each track that drop the ball and stop me from considering The Shadowthrone as Satyricon’s best album when it could easily have been so with a little restraint. To make matters worse, Vikingland is basically 5 minutes of the Viking metal style mentioned previously so I don't find a lot of enjoyment there.

Personal preferences aside, I can see why anyone that enjoys both forms of music would find this album to be amazing. All the influences and interludes come together a fair bit cleaner than on the debut where they would occasionally feel pieced together. Tracks such as In the Mists by the Hills, Woods to Eternity and especially Dominions to Satyricon contain some of the most gripping music the band has ever come up with. The Shadowthrone is still an album I will listen to occasionally, but I will always tend to go for the more focused Nemesis Divina or the truly wintry Dark Medieval Times before delving into this one. Basically, if you’re a big fan of Viking and folk metal as well as epic black metal, add at least half a mark to my score.