Moonfog

Rating: 9/10

Satyricon’s “The Shadowthrone” is ine of the best LPs ever emerged from the norse fjords. Combining the coldness of the typical Norwegian sound with very aggressive yet beautiful melodies, Satyr and co. musicalize the pride of the viking past. Ultrafast passages combine with melodyc tunes, killink drumming breaks and acoustic parts under the cryptic vocals from mainman Satyr. Lyrics are both in English and Norwegian, but they all deal with the typical BM topics such as the past, Christendom, desolate nature, pagan traditions, darkness, death, cold, snow and, of course, as we are in Norway, the viking mythology and pride, something that appears claerly at “Vikingland”, a song with norse warriors’ chantings. Songs are a bit long (6-7 minutes) but never boring as they have different feelings reflected in each of them. Sound, despite being from Norway, is quite good and much, much better than the one of previous CD “Dark Medieval Times”. Oh! I nearly forget mentioning drummer’s absolutely fantastic work on the taburette. In a few words, a masterpiece of Norwegian Black Metal.