Review Summary: Too Old... Too Cold!
Darkthrone are legends in the metal world, having revolutionised the black metal scene spearheading the second wave with key Norwegian acts such as Burzum and Mayhem. They started off as a death metal group, which got them accussed as "trendies" for jumping on the black metal bandwagon as death metal was very uncool at the time in Norway. Regardless,
Soulside Journey was a hell of an album and my praise for
A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Under A Funeral Moon and
Transilvanian Hunger need not be mentioned (everyone likes these albums).
Anyway,
The Cult Is Alive was the start of a new period for Darkthrone which is that of the crust punk influence. Darkthrone clearly has nothing to prove, after releasing several landmark BM releases and some consistently solid work since their last truly great album (
Transilvanian Hunger) the band was in a comfortable position to release
The Cult Is Alive.
Gone is the focus on tremelo picked riffing, blastbeats and all that characterises black metal in its essential nature and enter a more melodic rhythm section that is not all that different to punk. The album has a distinct swagger to it that might appall those who are expecting
Under A Funeral Moon pt. 2, instead what is presented is a still very-blackened take on hardcore that is surprisingly good.
Every track is pretty much the same, but its tongue in cheek humour is irresistable on tracks such as
Too Old Too Cold and
Graveyard Slut. It is not worth picking apart individual moments, but they are full of strong rythmic based songwriting and hilarious lyrics which make
The Cult Is Alive incredibly fun.
Indeed, this may be my favourite Darkthone. The following two albums I feel don't hold a candle to this (*** Off & Die and Dark Thrones and Black Flags) and I haven't heard Circle The Wagons yet.
