Members of Mayhem and Darkthrone in an early '90s photo
DARKTHRONE'S release of A Blaze in the Northern Sky in 1992 was an earth-shattering event in the history of black metal. The Norwegian scene hadn't put out many full-length studio albums yet, and Darkthrone's first album was basically death metal, not black metal. Darkthrone now consisted of three members since Dag Nilsen had left: Zephyrous, Nocturno Culto, and Fenriz. However, they had a renewed focus now that they were committed to black metal.
The follow-up to Blaze is the 1993 classic Under a Funeral Moon. On this album, Darkthrone (by their own admission) moved even further away from their death metal roots. They acknowledged that they had still used a death metal template for some of their songs on Blaze, but had now jettisoned that foundation. Even Fenriz himself admitted that Blaze was "a lot of death metal with some black metal parts." 1993's Under a Funeral Moon, however, was "pure black metal."
Here's "Unholy Black Metal," from Under a Funeral Moon
With Under a Funeral Moon (even more than Blaze), the classic second wave black metal template began to solidify. The primitive, blasting drums; the raw, screeched vocals; the tremolo picking riffs....all of it was present in a way that felt new and fresh. It has even been called the "blackest black metal" album that Darkthrone has ever made.
Soon after its release, Darkthrone entered the studio to record its follow-up. At the time, however, things had changed in the Norwegian scene. In 1991 and 1992, things in the Norwegian black metal scene had been relatively organic and tightly knit. There were few actual black metal bands and the focus was on the music. But by 1993, the church burnings and murders associated with the Inner Circle had begun to distract people from the music. It also attracted media attention and resulted in the scene being flooded with black metal posers. This state of affairs greatly influenced Darkthrone's mindset as they recorded their next album.
"Slottet I Det Fjerne" is one of their most famous tracks from Transilvanian Hunger
Now a duo (Zephyrous left the band after a car accident), Darkthrone released album number four in early 1994. This album--Transilvanian Hunger--was another masterpiece that changed the face of black metal. Even more raw, with an aura of misanthropic darkness (which resulted from a dark, ultra lo-fi production), Hunger had blazingly fast songs that influenced a generation of black metallers. Within the span of three years, Darkthrone had revolutionized black metal.
One source of controversy was the band's messaging on the album itself. On the back cover of the album, the band labeled their music as "Norwegian Aryan Black Metal," and in the liner notes they noted that anyone who criticized their music was behaving in a "Jewish" fashion. Years later, Fenriz himself noted that this kind of language was unacceptable and even called it "disgusting."
Off of Panzerfaust, this is "Hans siste vinter"
While Darkthrone's first three black metal albums (Blaze, Funeral, Hunger) are sometimes called their 'unholy trinity' because of how influential and revolutionary they were, I like to lump in their 1995 release, Panzerfaust, as well. The structure laid down on Hunger and Funeral were present, to some degree, but the production values were notably different. The vocals had a more vile, trebly feel to them than in previous albums, giving the entire album an angry rawness that was less present on the earlier releases. All told, Panzerfaust is just as essential as Under a Funeral Moon or Transilvanian Hunger.
It is no exaggeration to say that Norway's black metal scene is the most important in the history of the genre. Once the style took hold, and bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Burzum, Thorns, and more began creating black metal music, the world of metal was forever changed. However, I want to highlight some important and lesser-known developments in Norwegian black metal before the explosion of the early 1990s.
Tromsø's 666
Mayhem, despite what most people know and think, is not actually the first Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1984 in Oslo, this is true, but the band 666--from the city of Tromsø--predates the existence of Mayhem. They formed in 1982 and played a darkly satanic style of metal that owes a lot to 70s hard rock. They never released any proper studio albums, but did become known in the metal underground for their live shows. Their only releases, in fact, are recordings of several early 1980s live shows that surfaced in the 1990s and later.
Sarpsborg's PERDITION HEARSE formed as Disorder in 1988, but by 1990 they had changed their name and were putting out demos of old-school black metal. Their sound was a very unrefined style that still drew on a death/thrash template but was recognizably black metal nonetheless.
"My Ancient Gods Behind Them" is off of the demo Mala Fide
The mastermind behind Perdition Hearse was the man known as Occultus. Despite Perdition Hearse's early appearance on the scene, Occultus himself would go on to be a part of the Norwegian black metal boom in his own right: he was one of the co-founders of the infamous Helvete record shop, and played session bass in Mayhem for a short time.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, a few other bands in Norway popped up on the radar as part of early efforts at black metal. Some of these bands went on to make an impact; others, not so much. Black/thrash band BLASPHEMER, for example, isn't known for much beyond two nasty-sounding demos, and may very well be a joke band (one rumor is that Metalion, of Slayer magazine, was a member). Here is a sample of their sound from the 1986 demo Voice of Dead Babbs:
Oslo's VALHALL--having formed in 1987--followed a pretty interesting trajectory in relation to black metal. A side project of Darkthrone's Fenriz, they actually released a slew of noteworthy demos in the late 80s and early 90s before becoming a stoner doom band and leaving behind black/death metal entirely.
This is their 1988 demo Castle of Death in full
There were some other obscure bands that emerged before Norwegian black metal exploded from the underground into metal mainstream notoriety--like Råde's SLAUGHT or Askim's FESTER--but their impact was even more minimal than the above-mentioned bands.
With all of that being said, two bands that are worth mentioning because of their role in shaping what would become the Norwegian black metal boom are OLD FUNERAL and THOU SHALT SUFFER. Neither band were really black metal, per se, but they both served as influences on the scene as well as bands with some rather famous rosters.
OLD FUNERAL
Forming as Funeral in 1988, they supposedly started calling themselves 'Old Funeral' because of another band named Funeral that arose shortly thereafter. Old Funeral was especially notable because it contained--at various points in its four years of existence--Abbath and Demonaz from Immortal, Varg from Burzum, and Jørn from Hades. Interestingly enough, these men were never all in the band at the same time.
"Skin and Bone" can be found on the 1990 demo, Abduction of Limbs
In terms of their sound, it clearly owed a large debt to the emerging Swedish death metal scene that was all the rage. The raw, evil style of this band can also clearly be seen as a precursor to the black metal brilliance that Norway would soon be known for.
The band more or less had a rotating roster, but it had broken up for good by 1992. After Mayhem's Euronymous had laid down the gauntlet in a late 1991 magazine interview--calling out Norwegian extreme metal musicians for their lack of creativity and blatant attempts at cloning American and Swedish death metal--many musicians answered the call by seeking to join the ranks of black metal elite. Abbath and Demonaz went on to form Immortal (after briefly dabbling in death metal again with AMPUTATION), Varg Vikernes resurrected Uruk-Hai (which eventually evolved into Burzum), and Jørn formed Hades.
Old Funeral's Select Discography:
The Fart that Should Not Be (demo) (1989)
Abduction of Limbs (demo) (1990)
Devoured Carcass 7" (1991)
The Older Ones (compilation) (1999)
THOU SHALT SUFFER
Thou Shalt Suffer, on the other hand, more or less served as proving grounds for musicians who would go on to form Emperor and Ildjarn (more on these two entities at a later date).
Initially formed in 1990 by Ihsahn and Samoth as Dark Device, Thou Shalt Suffer played more on the black metal side of the extreme metal spectrum than death metal. Exploring eerie and dark sounds with the synth compositions that Ihsahn provided, Thou Shalt Suffer was actually a pretty unique band for 1991 Norway.
This is the title track from the 1991 demo Into the Woods of Belial
Again, much like Old Funeral, the members of Thou Shalt Suffer began to explore new sounds outside of the bounds of this project as a result of Euronymous's call to arms. Samoth, for example, began composing songs that would eventually become the first music for Emperor, and Ildjarn sought to form his own eponymous band that would go on to become highly influential.
One of the most important black metal bands of all time, Kolbotn, Norway's DARKTHRONE didn't start out as the black metal machine we all have come to know and love. They formed in 1986 as Black Death, and were a fairly typical-sounding black/death metal band (by 1986 standards). They put out two demos in two years, Trash Core and Black is Beautiful, before changing their name to Darkthrone in 1987. The name was inspired by a metal zine and the Celtic Frost song "Jewel Throne". Band members in this time period included Gylve Nagell, Ivar Enger, Ted Skjellum, Anders Risberget, and Dag Nilsen.
This is an example of Black Death's sound from the 1987 demo Black is Beautiful
In the late 1980s, Darkthrone put out a slew of demos that showcased their old-school death metal style. Their sound was actually pretty similar to what Swedish bands like Nihilist were doing at the time. It was through these demos that Darkthrone cemented their underground reputation and came to be considered one of Norway's extreme metal elite. By 1990, they had put out four now-legendary demos (Land of Frost, A New Dimension, Thulcandra, and Cromlech) and caught the ears of record label Peaceville. They then signed a four album deal with them. The first album--recorded in late 1990--was 1991's Soulside Journey, a classic that hearkens back to the old-school death metal scene of the 1980s, but still contains the seeds of the black metal sound Darkthrone would eventually become known for.
"Eon" is from the 1989 demo Thulcandra
"Cromlech" is one of their most crucial tracks from Soulside Journey
After the release of Soulside Journey, Darkthrone began recording material for their next album. However, partway through the recording process, the creative core of Darkthrone--Gylve Nagell, Ted Skjellum, and Ivar Enger--began to become more interested in the emerging Norwegian black metal scene. They adopted evil pseudonyms (Fenriz, Nocturno Culto, and Zephyrous, respectively) and even took to donning corpsepaint as part of their musical conversion. This also resulted in their scrapping of what they had recorded of their second album so far. They went back to the drawing board and started anew.
"Rex" is from the Goatlord recording sessions
That unreleased material was shelved for several years before being released as the 1996 album Goatlord. But it was the direction that Darkthrone took in late 1991 that had a huge influence on black metal (especially the Norwegian scene). Darkthrone shifted from a sound that resembled death metal masters Entombed and Nihilist, to the raw, lo-fi grimness that black metal fans the world over have since come to expect from Norway.
As a result of this change in direction, bassist Dag Nilsen left the band. He is credited as a session player only. Peaceville Records, too, was shocked to find that the band they had signed was no longer playing the then-trendy death metal. They initially refused to release this new album, until Darkthrone threatened to have it released through Euronymous' Deathlike Silence Productions. Peaceville relented and this album--entitled A Blaze in the Northern Sky--was released in 1992.
"The Pagan Winter" is from 1992's A Blaze in the Northern Sky
With this release, Darkthrone forever changed the black metal landscape. Hordes of bands would come along and copy the template that Darkthrone laid down on this album. But few have ever equaled the evil majesty achieved on this epic release. Darkthrone, however, were just getting started...
Darkthrone performing an early version of "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"
live in 1991
Select Discography
as Black Death
Trash Core '87 (demo)(1987)
Black is Beautiful (demo)(1987)
as Darkthrone
Land of Frost (demo)(1988)
A New Dimension (demo)(1988)
Thulcandra (demo)(1989)
Cromlech (demo)(1989)
Soulside Journey (full-length)(1991)
A Blaze in the Northern Sky (full-length)(1992)
Goatlord (full-length) (recorded 1991, released 1996)
Isengard is known primarily as the one-man black/folk metal band by Fenriz from Darkthrone. Thing is, Isengard was black metal before Darkthrone was. In 1989, when Isengard's first demo came out (Spectres Over Gorgoroth), Darkthrone was still a death metal band. Fenriz has admitted in interviews that he created Isengard as an outlet for music that was decidedly different from Darkthrone. Unlike early Darkthrone, Isengard clearly had strong black metal elements, such as the vocals and a more blackened guitar tone. There are still death metal elements, but compared to what Darkthrone was doing in this time period, it was much more black metal.
"Dark Lord of Gorgoroth" is from the first demo, 1989's Spectres Over Gorgoroth
With the 1991 demo Horizons, the sound veered away from death metal and more toward black metal than the previous demo. Folk elements began to make their way into the music as well. This folk/black metal mix is more or less what Isengard is known for these days. The 1993 demo Vandreren was a continuation in this blackened folk style.
The song "Vinterskugge" is off of the '93 demo Vandreren
In 1994, the demo material was collected as the album Vinterskugge. This was followed by a new album the next year, Høstmørke. On this album, the folk element was even more prominent. This led to an album that had a schizophrenic feel to it. Some songs were folk rock with black metal influence, some were black metal songs with folk elements to it.
An example of the blackened folk of the Høstmørke album
Fenriz discontinued Isengard after Høstmørke. The twoalbums were re-released a few years ago (2007, I think) with Fenriz's own commentary on them. For any obsessive fan of black metal, that might be a worthwhile purchase.
