Summary
A Blaze in the Northern Sky is the second studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded at Creative Studios in August 1991[1] and released on 26 February 1992 by Peaceville Records. Apart from earlier rehearsal recordings between March 1991 and the Norwegian summer holidays (later released as a demo compilation in 2016) the record contained the band's first official black metal recordings[2] and is considered a classic within the genre.[3] It was the first album of what fans dub the "Unholy Trinity", the other albums being Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger.[4][5] It was the last album to feature bassist Dag Nilsen. In 2020, the album was put on the National Library of Norway's permanent exhibition due to its significance to Norwegian culture and as a starting point for Norwegian black metal.[6]
| A Blaze in the Northern Sky | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 26 February 1992 | |||
| Recorded | August 1991 | |||
| Studio | Creative Studios in Kolbotn, Norway | |||
| Genre | Black metal | |||
| Length | 42:02 | |||
| Label | Peaceville | |||
| Producer | Darkthrone | |||
| Darkthrone chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background edit
Darkthrone's first album, 1991's Soulside Journey, was a Swedish-styled death metal release. After recording Soulside Journey, the band began writing songs with more black metal traits. This yielded the instrumental demo Goatlord.
After recording Goatlord, three of the band members—Fenriz, Nocturno Culto and Zephyrous—decided that they wanted to focus on making black metal music. Bassist Nilsen disliked this shift in direction, and quit the band. However, he agreed to record his bass parts for the album as a session member. A Blaze in the Northern Sky was recorded during August 1991 at Creative Studios in Kolbotn; the same studio where Mayhem recorded their influential Deathcrush EP. In an interview, Fenriz said that the album was somewhat "rushed" and that many of the songs have "death metal guitar riffs" played in a "black metal style".[7]
Due to Darkthrone's sudden change from death metal to black metal, Peaceville was unwilling to release the album as it was. The shocked record label had expected that the band would continue recording death metal in the vein of Soulside Journey. Peaceville agreed to release the album only if they were able to remix it, stating that the sound was "too weak". The band then threatened to release it through Deathlike Silence Productions, the record label owned by Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth of Mayhem (to whom the album is dedicated).[7] However, Peaceville eventually agreed to release the album as it was recorded.
Release edit
The album was released by Peaceville on 26 February 1992. The first CD pressing was limited to 2,000 copies and had a white disc.[citation needed] The front cover featured Ivar Enger (Zephyrous), the band's rhythm guitarist.
It was remastered and reissued by Peaceville in 2003, as well as being repackaged in a cardboard digipak. The second chapter of a four-part video interview (spanning the first four albums) with Fenriz and Nocturno was also included. A Blaze was reissued again by Peaceville in December 2009 as a double gatefold LP on 180 gram vinyl, limited to 2,000 copies.
Critical reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10[8] |
| Sputnikmusic |  [9] |
In his retrospective review of the album, Eduardo Rivadavia from AllMusic gave A Blaze 5 out of 5 stars, calling it "a classic whose almost indefensibly lo-fi standards would reinvigorate an entire strain of black metal".[2] Valefor from Metal Reviews wrote that it "would come to epitomize True Black Metal [...] raw production, simple riffs, no color on their album covers... just pure frozen evil."[10] Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic called the album "triumphant", with a balanced blend of "frozen production and guttural screams" and "a sense of community".[9]
In 2009, IGN included A Blaze in the Northern Sky in their "10 Great Black Metal Albums" list,[11] while a 2007 article in Decibel magazine called it "the first truly blackened death metal album".[12] Kerrang! called it "a dark watershed for the black metal genre" and the song In the Shadow of the Horns as "seven minutes of defiant lo-fi production, frostbitten purpose and blunt-force simplicity".[13]
Track listing edit
All lyrics are written by Fenriz; all music is composed by Darkthrone
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kathaarian Life Code" | 10:39 |
| 2. | "In the Shadow of the Horns" | 7:01 |
| 3. | "Paragon Belial" | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Where Cold Winds Blow" | 7:26 |
| 5. | "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" | 4:57 |
| 6. | "The Pagan Winter" | 6:35 |
| Total length: | 42:02 | |
Personnel edit
Darkthrone edit
- Nocturno Culto – lead guitar, vocals
- Zephyrous – rhythm guitar
- Fenriz – drums, backing vocals
Additional musicians edit
- Dag Nilsen – bass guitar
Production edit
- Dave Pybus – album cover design
References edit
- ^ Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky CD cover Archived 11 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Rivadavia, Eduardo. "A Blaze in the Northern Sky - Darkthrone". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Fenriz (16 November 2020). The album that defined early Norwegian black metal – Interview with Fenriz with English subtitles (Videotape) (in English and Norwegian). Nasjonalbiblioteket. Retrieved 24 March 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ Eduardo Rivadavia: Under a Funeral Moon - Darkthrone.
- ^ James Montague: Darkthrone - The Cult Is Alive.
- ^ A Blaze in the Northern Sky: Ted Skjellum and Harald Fossberg (in Norwegian). Nasjonalbiblioteket. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ a b A Blaze in the Northern Sky (video interview). 2003.
- ^ Sodomsky, Sam (22 September 2019). "Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ a b Freeman, Channing (18 January 2013). "Album Review - Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ Valefor: Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ Ramirez, Carlos (6 January 2009). "10 Great Black Metal Albums – IGN". ign.com. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Darkthrone - "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"". Decibel Magazine. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ^ "The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever". Kerrang!. Retrieved 20 July 2019.