DARKTHRONE 'Transylvanian Hunger'
Peaceville Records (1994, reissue 2003)
In the year 1994 Darkthrone, in my opinion, the most important Norwegian Black Metal band, released their fourth album entitled "Transylvanian Hunger" through Peaceville Records. This is the band’s second release as a trio (Dag Nilsen left the band after recording the bass for the album "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"), and also the last with the English Label.
1994 was a very strange and creative period for Black Metal. The situation in Norway was gradually getting out of control (incidents of church arsons and racist attacks became a daily phenomenon), but that didn’t seem to disturb the band’s creative mood. Darkthrone had the difficult task of creating an album that would be equally as interesting as their previous release "Under A Funeral Moon". Euronymous, leader of the cult Black Metal band Mayhem and friend of Fenriz put them in contact with another important figure of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, Burzum’s main man Varg Vikerness, and the two parties started recording material for the new release. The result was the recording of eight pure Black Metal compositions, half of which were created by Varg. It seems though that the two parties shared much more that just their common interest in music.
When the album was originally released, the back cover quoted the phrase "Norsk Arisk Black Metal". That statement created plenty of reaction from the music press, and the following statement from Fenriz only made things worse: "We wish to state that Transylvanian Hunger is beyond criticism, and any man who attempts to do so should be thoroughly patronised for his obviously Jewish behaviour." As if that wasn’t enough, the band decided that the above-mentioned statement should be included on the sleeve of the album. Peaceville Records, for obvious reasons, refused to conform with the band’s demands and that led to the band’s decision to work exclusively with Norwegians from that point onwards. Darkthrone’s following release "Panzerfaust" was released by Satyr’s Norwegian label Moonfog, with which the band still has a contract.
What about the music though? How does Darkthrone sound on their fourth studio release? Many people believed that the sound, which the band created for the "Under A Funeral Moon" album, was the hardest and heaviest that any Black Metal band could ever create. Well, this new release is another step towards the creation of the ultimate Black Metal sound. The band managed to reach their limits of extremity, not only with the sound, but also with the quality of their compositions. "Transylvanian Hunger is an album full of hyberblast beats, cut edge guitar riffs and evil psychotic screams.
The only song whose lyrics are in English is the self-titled opening track - a composition that Fenriz brought to life in 1992. "Over Fjell Og Gjennom Torner" is another typical sample of Pure Black Metal, but is in no way compared to the following track "Skald Av Satans Sol", which is one of the best songs of the album. The last contribution from Fenriz on this album is called "Slottet I Det Fjerne", equally fast and extreme, in line with all the previous tracks.
The following four tracks of the album, are a product of collaboration between Varg Vikerness and Darkthrone. The first three, "Graven Takeheimens Saller", "I En Hall Med Flesk Og Mjod", and "As Flittermice As Satans Spys" are fast evil tunes which combine the aggressiveness of Darkthrone, with the dark atmosphere that Burzum are renowned for. The best product of this collaboration though, is the last song of this thirty-nine minute album which is called "En As I Dype Skogen", a well-known Darkthrone classic.
"Transylvanian Hunger" is the album that marked the end of the first era of simply the most important Norwegian Black Metal band. This is the best attempt that Darkthrone ever made in order to compose the fastest Black Metal album, and up to a certain point, they were quite successful. The album was originally released in 1994, but there is a 2003 re-issue by Peaceville Records which also contains a video with the fourth part of an interview with members of the band, which I believe that you will find quite interesting.
I really like "Transylvanian Hunger" - it may not be as great as "A Blaze in the Northern Sky", but on the other hand it’s a totally different album. With this release the Norwegian noisemakers managed to prove once again to the world why they deserve to be in the top of the Black Metal league, a title that I’m sure they’ll continue to retain with every future release.
****
Review by John Stefanis
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