| | Full Review | Ratings (430) |
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| 3.5 great | notgood0 | June 22nd 10 |
Let's get one thing out of the way - Darkthrone's moonfog era was rather ham-handed. One one hand you have great albums like this one, Hate Them and Sardonic Wrath. On the other you have Goatlord. Anyway, Total Death get's the award for being the quietest album Darkthrone has produced. The hushness of the album reminds me of Bathory's The Return being not so much devoid of exciting music, but the production output is quiet and hushed. The music, however is quite good. This was as I like to call it Darkthrone's 'collaboration project' in the sense that some lyrics and music was contributions to others in the scene, notably Varg Vikernes, who was in prison at the time. Ted and Glyve haven't lost their touch, though as some of the riffs and drumming on this album are quite superb, and a good example of some late 90s black metal. Some songs are mid-paced like 'Gather for Attack on the Pearly Gates', while the album's closer 'The Serpent's Harvest' is slow and creeping. Both are examples of the variety you get on this album, and a reason why this isn't a Darkthrone album that just whizzes by as all the songs meld together in a collective mass of bleak stories of satan and death. No there is a good variety of riffs both between songs and within them.
tl;dr: Not Darkthrone's greatest work, but defiantly worth getting. The songs won't mesh together like they tend to do in Transylvanian hunger. Overall a solid album.
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| 3.0 good | ManWomanBoogie | November 10th 08 |
The mid nineteen nineties were a real bitch for Darkthrone. After the release of Panzerfaust and Goatlord, fans of Darkthrone weren’t expecting much from their heroic black metal band anymore. Noctrno Culto’s voice had declined sharply, and so had just about everything else. Despite this, 1996’s Total Death was the final shimmer of light from the talented band, before being sealed in the darkness of mediocrity.
Early Darkthrone was had a fairly fast pace due to the early death metal influences that they contained, but this release is completely devoid of any influence other than black metal. The guitars, in their fuzzy glory, play simplistic yet effectively dark riffs, while Fenriz’s drumming succeeds in keeping a the beat in a respectable fashion throughout the album, which is something I could say for some of black metal’s more blast beat oriented drummers. The album speed is fairly slow, almost doom-like, but succeeds in that area far better than Goatlord. Sure, Nocturno’s vocals are still rather bad, but they fit the music perfectly, in their croaky goodness.
Total Death is far from perfect, the album is too long, the music is too simple, and the band really isn’t at their height here. One thing that can be said about this album though is that it is a mark of slight change for Darkthrone. The music is slower, more black metal, while the atmosphere is still piercing black. In the world of Darkthrone releases, Total Death is slightly above average.
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| 3.5 great | NarlusKing123 | October 31st 22 |
Probably my favorite mid-era Darkthrone record. While Panzerfaust has some really strong moments, I think Total Death shows off some of the best atmosphere and songwriting. Highly recommend.
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| 3.0 good | Ossacip Olbap | April 6th 22 |
blaze n hungers prod blended with a mix of all previous bm albums riffs and atmosphere, and as such its better than all of them but not worth much just as
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| 3.5 great | Pangea | January 17th 21 |
Darkthrone somewhat slow things down on Total Death, but it is still appropriately vile. It's a great album, but i don't find myself attaching on any moment here
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| 3.0 good | Bedex | November 7th 20 |
Frankly not a DT album I really plan on going back to. While stylistically this is still resolutely bm, they go back to slower tempos that just dont fit their vibes and remove the barren, frozen forests feel to replace it with riffs that feel a bit awkward. There are alot of faster paced, more regular bm sections in the vein of their previous releases, which is especially prominent on the nicely frozen 3, but even these are underserved by production that is rather tame and soft on the ear for something meaning to be aggressive and raw. Tbf I had a long pause in the DT discog run so maybe this explains why the rating goes dramatically down like this but this honestly feels like a 2.8
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| 2.5 average | GamamJ | March 21st 20 |
I have to say, disappointingly average. Definitely a huge downturn after the previous 5 releases. Much less inspired than those.
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| 3.5 great | zaruyache | June 6th 17 |
As of writing this is my favorite Darkthrone album. While it feels a bit generic now, their brand of punkish black metal was probably ahead of the game back in '96. "Total Death" might be excessively predictable with it's practically binary mid-paced blast bm/punky grooving shtick, but the writing is solid and the production is fairly good (in that's it's very fitting). This is just no frills, fun, riffy metal.
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| 1.5 very poor | EasterInTheBatcave | August 15th 16 |
Don't let the excellent cover art fool you: this is a black metal record absent of majesty, atmosphere, and interest. Shocking that it comes from Darkthrone, one of the genre's second wave progenitors. The ridiculously loud vocals of Panzerfaust have been fixed, at least; beyond that, this is disappointing in every department. The riffs are stale, the... you know what, the whole thing is stale. Thankfully, it's only 35 minutes.
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| 3.5 great | SkapalPes | July 20th 14 |
Darkthrone came with another full-length only half year after "Panzerfaust". Their fantastical productivity had to take its tax, as this album didn`t reach qualities of previous ones.
I just couldn`t find the strength they had before, although their abilities to create harsh and crude black metal were still present here. It seems to me they tried to go back in history and recorded one old-school record, where you can find even some thrash influence (especially in "Blasphemer", I don`t think it is very good song) and crust-punk feeling (honestly, Impaled Nazarene are better on this ground in my opinion).
When not looking at their best, this is still great album. (Note: guitar is played here by Nocturno and Fenriz focused on drums and bass.)
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| 3.0 good | Vakarian12 | March 1st 13 |
Some cool riffs here and there. The guitar tone sounds flat and boring, the drumming just isn't interesting. Vocals are passable but nothing noteworthy.
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| 3.5 great | EverythingEvil2113 | January 12th 11 |
I like this better than Panzerfaust because the vocals aren't as high in the mix and are therefore less irritating. This is probably my third or fourth favorite of theirs. At least check out the track Earth's Last Picture if anything.
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| 3.5 great | Verdr | March 6th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | Mitch | January 3rd 24 |
| 2.5 average | budgie | November 29th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Prole | March 19th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Majk | December 8th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Coast | February 8th 22 |
| 2.5 average | fadle | January 27th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Lvxfra | October 22nd 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Risodo | February 24th 21 |
| 3.5 great | yayafa | January 28th 21 |
| 3.5 great | bSmith | December 19th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | perkeleh | November 30th 20 |
| 3.0 good | peahat | December 19th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Chase | July 1st 19 |
| 3.0 good | JS98 | March 30th 19 |
| 3.5 great | gk1979 | January 29th 19 |
| 3.5 great | pbass0 | November 13th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Gary STAFF | July 26th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sebe | June 3rd 18 |
| 3.0 good | Metz | June 3rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Casavir | April 4th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Flave | February 12th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Fear | December 9th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Nuberus | October 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Scuro EMERITUS | August 24th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | AriDoe | August 23rd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | GazAldo | June 30th 17 |
| 3.5 great | ThrashK | February 23rd 17 |
| 3.5 great | chanson | February 10th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Takato | September 9th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sunnyvale STAFF | August 25th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Jeejee | August 25th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lanas | July 24th 16 |
| 3.5 great | stakis | July 11th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Ianman | June 27th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Pavera | April 4th 16 |
| 3.5 great | manosg EMERITUS | February 25th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Horsey | February 15th 16 |
| 3.0 good | 8genre | January 5th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Wrongjam | December 29th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | Chester1 | November 10th 15 |
| 1.5 very poor | Fozzie | August 8th 15 |
| 2.0 poor | HoB | July 21st 15 |
| 3.5 great | ckssr1 | April 1st 15 |
| 3.0 good | Majkl | March 12th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Aion | March 6th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Dav85 | February 1st 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | Krimea | December 25th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | speltzer | December 10th 14 |
| 3.0 good | adr | December 5th 14 |
| 3.5 great | SunnRa | November 27th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kriss | August 24th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | PFNPJ | March 29th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | dragoth | March 7th 14 |
| 3.1 good | Trey STAFF | February 1st 14 |
| 3.0 good | Curse. | January 15th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Alastor | November 1st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Acorn | October 21st 13 |
| 2.5 average | Kazem | October 14th 13 |
| 1.5 very poor | Saint54 | September 8th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | Crinn | July 4th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hawks | March 3rd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Caelum | February 22nd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Deaf | February 8th 13 |
| 3.0 good | Weedon | January 18th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | dmbmdmbm | November 12th 12 |
| 3.5 great | ZGP1992 | November 11th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Ire | September 12th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Meowza | August 25th 12 |
| 3.0 good | KILL | August 16th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thor | April 28th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Apep | March 13th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Custy | February 3rd 12 |
| 4.5 superb | cloudnx | February 3rd 12 |
| 3.5 great | Cabrero | December 26th 11 |
| 3.5 great | gazanga | November 23rd 11 |
| 2.5 average | Nacen | October 30th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | stotty | September 25th 11 |
| 3.0 good | true | July 26th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Manco | June 18th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Aether | March 6th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | MikeStan | February 21st 11 |
| 3.0 good | Lakes2 | February 13th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Evisc | May 4th 10 |
| 3.5 great | qWot | March 15th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | qwe3 | February 7th 10 |
| 3.0 good | rc1288 | January 5th 10 |
| 3.0 good | aeuk | December 7th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | AlexAix | November 22nd 09 |
| 2.5 average | Saymon | July 9th 09 |
| 3.0 good | Kyle Ward EMERITUS | September 7th 08 |
| 2.5 average | s7mon | March 6th 08 |
| 3.5 great | Satanix | December 12th 07 |
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