darkthrone transilvanian hunger review
In conclusion the world needed Transilvanian Hunger. However, this slogan remains dubious, to say the least. The blurry production gives Darkthrone a bit of an advantage for their quest to sound as if they recorded Transilvanian Hunger while camping out in a forest on a snowy winter night. Transilvanian Hunger, one of the most cited works in the black metal genre. Three riffs per song, generally with two alternating main riffs and a third bridge riff; little variation in song structure; simple drum beats and bass lines that usually follow the guitar riffs; and raw production. The track list for the album is as follows: The drums pound about throughout the album, bringing a thunderous beat to these black hymns. Year: 1994. Perhaps I had just got a bit caught on the mythology of this band, but it's all a lot less extreme then I expected- the riffs, while not melodic in the 'Hey guys lets rip off Iron Maiden' sense, are still very memorable, surprisingly catchy, and you will find yourself humming them. Honestly, it seems strange to even call this "metal". While the riffs are easily identifyable, as are the vocals and even to a certain extent the bass, the aspect of the music that is most affected by the production is the drums. Rating: 90/100. However, once you have been listening to black metal for at least 8 or so years and gotten a good handle on what the genre can REALLY offer, this album just feels empty, worthless, and more than everything else, overly monotonous and soulless. Okay, so it’s simplistic and repetitive just as the rest of the record is, but riffs and atmosphere here…wow! Show me the last video this band made where the member were being lavished by goth models in leather? Indeed, Transilvanian Hunger is a work of minimalism. With Graven Takeheimens Saler, unlike most of the other tracks heard here, there is more variation in the riffs. Genre: Black Metal. Going back to the beginning of this review, the reason why the first Transilvanian Hunger song you listen to will be your favorite is because this album is so monotonous, that one song is literally ALL you need to get a good picture of this album. F: You fiend! The songs are a well-written, consistent bunch with little variation. The snare drum is mixed very low and meshes in with the hats and ride. Released in 1994 on Fierce (catalog no. , last edit on Aug 22, 2016. Transilvanian Hunger sounds like one large, sweeping cold wind blowing through a forest at night. Beautiful Evil Self to be the Morbid Count I guess one of the main reasons is that I'm a pussy- whereas PDH offers some sort of spacey vista in his music, Darkthrone offers up something monochrome and bleak. To get a clear idea of what the album sounds like, take the two most minimalistic tracks from Under A Funeral Moon and subtract one or two riffs from them. In Over Fjell Og Gjennom, believe it or not, there is only ONE riff through out this entire song. The entire track is based on two riffs, the same drum pattern through out, yet spans over 6 minutes long. It's more that 'Transilvanian Hunger' exposed so many people to this level of production, as well as being one of the first albums to postulate that a degraded level of recording could be a boon to the atmosphere and quality of the music rather than a detrimental coincidence. “We would like to state that Transilvanian Hunger stands beyond any criticism. I can assure, from the first to the last minute, you will feel like your soul was being carried to the grim and icy nordlands, and at the end of the journey you will feel melancholic, yet at the same time in perfect communion with nature, in a sort of epiphany of your spirit. It hypnotizes you into a trance and….god dammit, I can fall asleep to this album. UA Kan du øyne Slottet i det fjerne? I En Hall Med Flesk Og Mjød (the unofficial English translation is In a Hall With Meat and Mead) Surely, of their entire discography, this is the most iconic of the album art, and possibly the most memorable black metal cover of all time, even if it's not quite the best. Numerous people complain about the album for its low technical skill and recording quality. A testament to its influence is a lot of modern black metal, a good example is Demony's Joined in Darkness, which takes the ethos behind Transilvanian Hunger and creates something a lot more powerful (and something as to which I greatly enjoy). The two English songs are very far apart in quality. Darkthrone's latest albums show their heavy affection for early punk music and rock n' roll, and the drumming of Fenriz as early as 1994 pays homage to his influences. Well, the ending of the second track is ridiculous, even the legendary fade-out of Sodom's "Outbreak of Evil" on their first EP sounded less amateurish. Perhaps it is his role as guitar player on this album that gives it such a unique sound, even compared to earlier Darkthrone albums he also played on. This is music purely based upon atmosphere and melody, and to judge it for qualities that it has no intention to pursue in the first place is a foolish and ludicrous idea. As I alluded to earlier, there are times when the atmosphere of the songs really comes through and can paint a picture. By the way, Darkthrone cannot completely suppress their musical skills and therefore the seemingly nonsensical structures reveal a surprising depth and more substance than I thought when listening to this exploration of the extremes for the first time. Is it the best album? Erebus Magazine Positive Points – the riffs are hypnotizing; the production fits like a glove; the lyrics are classic. But the more a band pisses on commercial conventions, the more we can assume that the musicians have an artistic vision and the aim to mirror a part of their personalities. The one thing I would like to share is that, contrary to popular opinion, songs like these can be surprisingly hard to play on a guitar (as far as drums and bass go, I have no idea). This is Darkthrone's magnum opus, don't miss it! Transylvania? This is dense, forceful and atmospheric material, aped by countless artists and yet eerily still perfect here at the source. This entire album could be described as a collection of 8 poetic narratives, only two of which are in English, thus necessitating translations for anyone not of Norwegian descent. In any case, the production here fits the music perfectly. This isn’t an insult to the work but rather more a compliment. It can be argued that Darkthrone are the 'truest' of the original Norwegian black metal sect, due largely to the lack of narcissistic tendencies, and the adherence to isolation and obscurity which the musical message implies. But with this necrorgonic sound, these atmospheres, this pure misanthropy, these majestuous riffs and this voice I can say that Transilvanian Hunger contains the essance of LHP. Although the production definitely reaches for the fuzzy bleakness that typifies “Filosofem”, it falls short of achieving the same mesmerizing affect, and there is this sense of perpetual sameness to most of the songs that further hinders the album’s flow. This is where Darkthrone shines the most as the melodies on these riffs are simply amazingly atmospheric. It's not quite as twistedly pretty to listen to as Under a Funeral Moon, but the atmosphere is still here in spades. We were discussing how to create atmosphere in music, and while he was speaking, I was idly playing the main riff to 'Transilvanian Hunger'. The riff basically does a harmony on one pedal note (the lower note) and then for the second half of the riff switches the pedal note, giving the harmony a dark twist that is ingenious in its simplicity, Whenever you buy albums through our site's links, we receive a small percentage for every sale. Even some of the lyrics of Fenriz have a similar elevated subject matter, such as can be found in "Over Fjell Og Gjennom Torner" and "Slottet I det Fjerne" the first of which describes the heat of battle, the second calls to mind ancient pagan rituals. There's really no point in anyone describing the general style of this -- you already know it, as it's pretty fuckin' obvious from looking at the front cover. He immediately stopped and said, "You see? Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Transilvanian Hunger at Amazon.com. This album exists to play with your mind and does through the very last track. I don't believe guitar solos have to be on an album, but on their previous works, Darkthrone were more than capable of doing leads and the occasional inclusion of such leads offered a change of pace that kept the music from staying at the same level throughout. Yet for some reason, on this particular album, by this particular band, these are not flaws, but parts of a unique sound-one might even say, the perfect black metal sound that every like-minded band wants to capture. It begins with an excellent riff, simple yet catchy � it shows their supreme writing skills. "Transilvanian Hunger" is not the perfect Darkthrone record or even the perfect Norwegian black metal record; the music is far too stripped down for my black metal taste and almost never changes pace, if even for a moment. Edit Release All Versions of this Release Review Changes . Quick leads and accents hear and there blend into the album's aesthetic perfectly. Window. Judging from the many amateur translations, I'd say their pretty much the awesome, satanism/paganism-inspired narratives you would expect. Released in 1994 on Peaceville (catalog no. “Translivanian Hunger” has classic, albeit clichéd, Norenglish lyrics (apparently memorable, since the queer phrase “delightfully immortal” is always popping in my head for some reason...). Strictly open notes, open strings, and power chords with open strings for dissonance create a wall of sad-sounding riffage. The back cover heralds "Norsk Arsik Black Metal" and this cheap provocation fits the scheme. The mistake many may make in listening to Transilvanian Hunger is not an intentional one. NC: I love the riff you just recorded, but what if you were to shift to these frets here, and then ascend to that note there... NC: Who cares? Transilvanian Hunger: the fundamental of Black Metal 많은 연구분야가 그렇지만 수학에서 fundamental한 부분을 연구하는 것은 매우 중요하면서도 어려운 일이기도 합니다. But that's what this is, and while it's highly enjoyable in short sharp bursts of three or four songs, listening to it in large doses turns the whole thing into a dreary, blurred smear of hypnotic blast beats and endless guitar riffs belted out with the same tremelo'd rhythm. Songs: Transilvanian Hunger, Over fjell og gjennom torner, Skald av Satans sol, Slottet i det fjerne, Graven tåkeheimens saler, I en hall med flesk og mjød.. Members: Nocturno Culto, Fenriz. The musical decisions Fenriz made on this album must be emphasized first, as that is what immediately catches the listener's intention. Anyway, they created a milestone of cold hate, pure misanthropy and unleashed velocity. Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger hardly needs any introduction to anyone with even a passing interest in black metal. I detect Mayhem riffs, Burzum riffs, and even a Bathory riff here and there. The lyrics here are almost entirely in Norwegian, with the exception of the title track and one other, a practice they used only on one previous song ("Inn I De Dype Skogers Favn"). While most albums where the band "leader" records everything are usually lackluster, (think Divine Retribution by Slayer), this takes the cake. The artwork? Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone (2003-07-01) at Amazon.com. Negative Points – none, View all reviews for Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger. Play "Transilvanian Hunger" by Darkthrone on any electric guitar. This song includes a new Authentic Tone. Hail Satan. One of the problems with legendary albums is that they often steal the thunder of other great albums, which is unfortunate regardless of how good the opuses granted such elite status may be. Transilvanian Hunger is one of those albums I play every week and I still get the same chilling feeling I got the first time I listened to it. The guitar tones are much cleaner, now that Fenriz had taken over all the instruments. One must listen to it, and soak in the grandeur of night skies and deep forests. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The cover images from 1992-1994 are about as self-centered as the band would ever get. Therefore, their slightly crude result was more or less logical. Then remix all of the instruments together to create a hypnotizing wall of noise, lower the vocals into the mix, and there you have it; the dark and evil masterpiece known as Transylvanian Hunger. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger Review. Released 17 February 1994 on Peaceville (catalog no. Under a Funeral Moon was arguably even rawer than this, but from that void came a sort of spontaneous magical essence. Either way, this is an album that has been at the center of stormy controversy for thirteen years now. There is also an increased emphasis on allowing the buzzing of the guitars to create a cold atmosphere reminiscent of the blowing winter winds in a dark forest (you can almost make out the sounds of leaves crunching in the title track, further heightening this feeling), which sets this album apart from it's predecessor "Under a Funeral Moon", which was focused on creating an absolute musical attack without much thought for transporting it's listener to a world elsewhere. It is one of the classics of the second wave. It was the first and most successful instance of the genre and has been copied, for good reason, ad nauseum. Except that the actual result is amazing. Each time something erupts from his mouth, it sounds like his throat is ripped and scarred more severely. But I digress; the biggest problem here is the lack of effort by Fenriz (I have read, including interviews by Fenriz, that he performed this entire album) and the sloppiness of it all. Each riff peels off and spears through the echoing soundstream, bringing an entirely new vision to the proceedings. In this way, like the infamous statement issued on the inital pressings of this album, Transilvanian Hunger is truly beyond criticism. Originally, the back cover featured the phrase Norsk Arisk Black Metal, which translates to Norwegian Aryan Black Metal. I mean, that one main riff is catchy as all hell and will stay nailed into your skull for a very long time. This also applies to the music at large. Darkthrone have always been my favorite black metal band and Transilvanian Hunger perhaps my favorite of the classic-era albums.This is a record … Take any song from this album, it doesn't matter which one, and play it to someone who likes raw music and needs an introduction to black metal. Nocturno Culto knows exactly when to scream to heighten the dramatic effect and Fenriz plays some essential fills. "Transylvanian Hunger" is the music of ice, stone and anger, an innovative album from some of the true innovators in black metal. This would obviously be a huge detriment if not for the nature of the drumming on Transilvanian Hunger. Read and write album reviews for Transilvanian Hunger - Darkthrone on AllMusic To its credit, Transilvanian Hunger didn't rest of the laurels of Under a Funeral Moon; it instead continued the band's ravenous hunger for change and evolution. Fans of it will say it is minimal. With the lyrics mostly being in Norwegian, I doubt I could have much to say in this respect. I'm going to take a risk and say that, for me, this is actually an extension of black metal into more epic realms, capturing not a little of the nascent Viking spirit that burgeoned in the second wave. Your Email Address. The bass guitar provides unexpected contrapuntal twists while the second guitar occasionally switches the harmonic backdrop. This page includes DARKTHRONE Transilvanian Hunger's : cover picture, songs / tracks list, members/musicians and line-up, different releases details, buy online: ebay and amazon, ratings and detailled reviews by some experts, collaborators and members. What really confuses me about that opinion is how anyone could term this album pure black metal when the preceding 'Under a Funeral Moon' is actually that much frostier, evil, and mysterious. That goes for the rest of the album as well. Distorted, bombing basslines thunder beneath, while the chord changes glisten off the fresh viscera of organs strewn about the battlefield, the band yet again proving the power of their simplistic compositions. Even though Hvis Lysett Tar Oss may have been the best album in the group and In the Nightside Eclipse may have had the greatest influence, Transylvanian Hunger is perhaps the most significant album here. I would have loved to hear the static, hiss and shit there at all times instead of cutting off. So why does all this monotony work? Honestly it's not easy to describe by mere words the emotions that this milestone of extreme music is still capable to convey to the listener, even nowadays. Most of the songs here are structured in the same way: Riff A alternates with riff B, while riff C acts as a bridge. This is not the kind of grand sweeping melody displayed by Emperor on In The Nightside Eclipse, however; Transilvanian Hunger's melody is of a simpler, more heartfelt kind, combining grace and beauty with the cold malice that every black metal band wants to portray. There are no keyboards to speak of to augment the atmosphere, the songs will often begin abruptly and mostly end with either a traditional fade out or an equally abrupt final stroke, most of the songs consist of 3 or 4 very clear cut riffs/melodic ideas, and the tempo remains almost completely linear throughout. Emperor because In The Nightside Eclipse is supposedly the most beautiful black metal album ever recorded and because Emperor have probably influenced the largest amount of non-black metal bands, more than any other band to emerge from the second wave of black metal (they just about invented symphonic metal); Mayhem because some people seem to latch onto the idea that De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was the most important debut black metal album of all time and because the history of Mayhem has pretty much reached legendary status; Burzum because Varg’s music was distinctly different from the rest of the second-wave pack, and because some people seem to think controversy=musical greatness. The vocals are mid-range which is really great for the music- high vocals would simply be over the top in this sort of minimalist rampage of bleak nihilism, and low vocals would take the emphasis off of the repetitive (this is a good thing here) two or three black metal riffs per song. While the music may not be all that fierce (or at least not as much as I'd thought), the bleakness of the songs and endless tremelo'd guitar riffs seem to exude a massive amount of nihilism and hopelessness. I couldn't read the name of the band. The lyrics are rather blunt and obvious, and yet it's still one of the better vampire black metal tunes of the 90s, almost making Ancient and Cradle of Filth irrelevant for their flashier tributes to the subject matter. As the melodic force of the title resonates immediately over the rather lazy tint of the drumming, you become quickly attuned to the fact that this is not the same Darkthrone of the year before. With such a simple formula I think it is safe to say that the success and effectiveness of this album are not derived from the song structures nor the song writing, but rather from the riffs themselves. In an interesting and unorthodox move for black metal, it is sometimes the vocals that provide the lead and substitute for melody over the rhythmic riffing of the guitar. Make of it what you will. He proudly held it up. Like Neo in The Matrix, Transilvanian Hunger is an anomaly in the metal world; this album should not be the album it is. But don't wait for comparatively "epic" numbers like "To Walk the Infernal Fields" from "Under a Funeral Moon", their first experiment in terms of a crude mix. That background roar of the rhythm instruments is very helpful at turning the repetition into a force of nature rather than an invitation to nap, plus some of those riffs, however easy to learn, almost take the skin off your face with their raw potency. It is apparent that Darkthrone is not one of the bands that hide their simple core with a flashy outer coating. Darkthrone’s early years are no stranger to this type of sound. In conclusion, Transilvanian Hunger is one of the great albums of Norweigna Black Metal, and Black Metal as a whole. There is more than a passing melodic semblance between the second riffs of Skald Av Satans Sol and I En Hall Med Flesk Og Mjod, and most of the riff can be divided into largely two groups: the frosty, more consonant riffs and the aggressive and fierce riffs. Find a translation of the lyrics, particularly those written by Varg, and you will see that while the approach to the lyrics still has that dark, blasphemous quality to it, there is also a focus on the pagan world, on ancient mead halls and battles with Christian warriors that seem removed from the musical and visual aesthetic of the album. Fenriz' drum beats now consist of a never-ending bass/snare pattern with very few fills that would become a staple of black metal. Playing perfectly-executed tremolo power chords five minutes straight requires a fair amount of stamina in your wrists that takes some time to develop. Last but not least, there’s no use of folk and medieval instrumentation that Satyricon used on their early releases. Darkthrone hunt for the most repulsive appearance and they are, no doubt about it, successful. Around 1994, something interesting started happening in the Norwegian black metal movement where many of the movement originators, such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor and Enslaved, as well as then newcomers Dimmu Borgir, began taking the genre in a direction distinctive from what Mayhem had laid down. This was a year that many claimed carved the epitaph for black metal as a genuine form of musical expression, while others say that it was indeed only the beginning of a new era. The band really did it this time. Featured peformers: Nocturno Culto (vocals), Fenriz (guitar, bass, drums), Nacht (cover art, aka_text artwork role_id 1314.aka_text), Darkthrone (aka_text music role_id 1010.aka_text). Size measures 10cm (4") x 10cm (4"). They took all the normal trademarks of black metal—necro production, raspy screams, tremolo-picked riffs, inaudible bass lines, lack of palm muting (unheard of in most other metal genres)—and made black metal that was far from normal. I might get stabbed by my fellow metal heads for saying this, but this album could be a fun companion to the old classic Castlevania games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. As much as I personally consider good production a good thing, I am forced to say that many extremely well-produced black metal bands out there just don’t sound evil at all. Preceding Transilvanian Hunger, Darkthrone were able to conjure up some of the best and most important black metal of the second wave. Darkthrone are mostly known for their triptych (a work of art divided in 3 sections) of A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Under A Funeral Moon and, finally, Transilvanian Hunger. How Fenriz and Nocturno Culto made the artistic and stylistic decisions that birthed this album is beyond me. Well no. Albums such as 'Pentagram', 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas', or 'In The Nightside Eclipse' all seemed to be a natural evolution of previous works, yet oddly distanced, as if emerging from a world removed from Dead's suicide and church arsons. These seldom-noticed aspects prevent the music from becoming merely robotic, “riff A to riff B” shit. Like, I found it tolerable at one point, but that point has long gone. Referring literally (and obviously) to the legend of the modern European Vampire that Bram Stoker first created with Dracula, this simple couplet represents the entire vision of the album, that is the unavoidable fact that we mere mortals will eventually be extinguished from this Earth and only our immortal creations will remain. At any rate, the guitars no longer maintain that same level of harsh fuzz as the past two albums, and while some might see that as a crippling mutation, it actually works in favor of the compositions, which are bleak and barren landscapes that one must penetrate before one can walk in step with its many glories. Still, if you claim that this is “no-talent-minimal-bullshit”, then you can just continue sucking off Opeth and Dream Theater, or some shitty flower power band out there. Darkthrone answers these questions perfectly on this album. This album is simply good, nothing more. Transilvanian Hunger is an ALBUM; all the music shares a pattern, a thought, an ideal. Let me just start by saying that Transylvanian Hunger makes Under A Funeral Moon sound like fucking Soulside Journey in so many ways! Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger review Black Metal.